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t-iiigg  Swot!     ,-•:, 


THE    PRINCIPLES    OF   ORAL 
ENGLISH 


THE   PRINCIPLES  OF  ORAL 
ENGLISH 


BY 


ERASTUS    PALMER 

HEAD    OF   THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   PUBLIC    SPEAKING   OF   THE 
COLLEGE   OF  THE   CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 

AND 

L.   WALTER   SAMMIS 


THE   MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:   MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LTD. 
IQO/ 

All  rights  reserved 


COPYKIGHT,    1906, 

BY   THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.      Published  January,  1906.     Reprinted 
October,  1907. 


Nortooott 

J.  S.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood.  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

TEACHERS  of  oral  English  are,  as  a  rule,  pleased 
or  displeased  with  the  rendition  of  a  sentence,  a 
declamation,  an  oration  or  a  reading  according  as 
it  pleases  or  displeases  their  taste ;  and  this  only 
because  taste  has  been,  thus  far,  the  only  measure 
available  for  the  guidance  of  the  teacher  or  the 
instruction  of  a  pupil.  Taste  alone  and  in  itself, 
however,  can  no  more  afford  a  foundation  for  a 
standard  of  oral  English  than  it  can  for  music. 
The  need  in  grammar  school,  high  school  and  col- 
lege is  for  an  exposition  of  the  subject  that  shall 
fix  a  standard  which  one  who  is  familiar  with  the 
subject  of  grammar  cannot  fail  to  understand  and 
apply.  The  laws  of  grammar  are  established,  and 
its  rules,  if  applied  to  sentences,  cannot  fail  to  de- 
velop in  speaker  or  reader  the  ability  to  express 
intelligently  the  thoughts  which  they  contain. 

If  a  student  thoroughly  understands  the  thought 
content  of  a  sentence  and  the  emotion  which  accom- 
panies it,  he  will  express  it  in  exactly  the  manner 
which  the  rules  set  forth  in  this  book  indicate ;  and 
if  he  masters  these  rules  and  their  application,  he 
can  give  an  accurate  and  just  reason  for  his  method 
of  expression. 

267354 


vi  Preface 

To  furnish,  then,  a  standard  of  measurement  in 
the  use  of  oral  English,  is  the  prime  object  of  this 
book ;  and  since  grammatical  analysis  is  the  only 
sure  means  of  determining  what  the  thought  in  a 
sentence  is,  the  laws  uttered  have  been  applied  to 
the  various  forms  of  the  English  sentence. 

Many  teachers  insist  that  all  that  is  necessary  to 
good  delivery  is  to  master  the  thought  in  a  sentence ; 
but  they  do  not  provide  a  method  of  reaching  that 
thought.  Other  teachers  contend  that  a  familiarity 
with  arbitrary  rules  is  all  that  is  necessary.  Neither 
side  is  wholly  right,  although  each  advocates  an 
essential  truth.  In  this  book  the  authors  have  not 
only  combined  the  principles  of  both  methods,  but 
have,  in  addition,  adduced  rules  which  show  the 
student  how  to  reach  the  thought,  and  also  the 
conventional  method  of  expressing  it. 

It  is  not  sufficient,  however,  in  treating  a  subject 
such  as  this,  to  deal  with  the  thought  only,  because 
the  thought  is  usually  colored  by  some  emotion,  and 
almost  never  stands  alone.  Emotion  affects  the 
quality  of  the  voice,  and  the  force,  the  rate  and  the 
pitch  with  which  the  thought  is  uttered.  It  is, 
therefore,  necessary  to  understand  the  nature  of  the 
emotion  in  order  to  appreciate  the  effect  it  will 
have  upon  the  vocal  utterance  of  the  thought.  The 
authors  have,  accordingly,  noted  the  principal  kinds 
of  emotion,  analyzed  their  effects  and  pointed  out 
their  influences  upon  delivery. 

Sentences  have  been  grouped  under  proper  heads, 


Preface  vii 

according  to  grammatical  structure,  and  analyzed, 
and  the  laws  which  govern  their  delivery  have  been 
deduced  as  the  result  of  the  analysis.  For  this  two 
hundred  and  nineteen  quotations  have  been  used, 
taken  from  the  works  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  standard  authors. 

The  subject  of  delivery  is  treated  first  as  a  sci- 
ence. Afterward,  in  the  chapter  on  Practice,  an 
opportunity  is  given  for  its  development  as  an  art. 
To  furnish  additional  material  for  the  practice  of 
reading  and  speaking  as  an  art,  a  number  of  decla- 
mations have  been  appended.  Most  of  these  decla- 
mations have  been  adapted  from  chapters  which 
have  never  been  used  for  the  purpose  of  speaking. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  the  declamations  are  descrip- 
tive rather  than  forensic.  The  authors  have  de- 
sired that  this  work  should  be  used  to  develop  an 
ability  to  treat  vocally  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life, 
and  not  necessarily  for  the  development  of  the 
power  of  oratory.  In  many  instances  the  delivery 
of  forensic  declamations  has  developed  in  a  student 
a  style  which  is  florid  and  not  at  all  appropriate  for 
public  speaking  or  ordinary  conversation.  Descrip- 
tive pieces,  on  the  contrary,  have  no  such  effect,  but 
rather  develop  an  easy  and  pleasing  style  of  conver- 
sation. Declamations  have,  therefore,  been  culled 
from  works  of  a  descriptive  character  instead  of 
from  forensic  utterances. 


AUTHORS    QUOTED 


ADDJSON  . 

ALDRICH 

ALISON    . 

BANCROFI- 

BENJAMIN 

BIBLE 

BLACKMORE 

BOSWELL 

BURNS 

BUTLER    . 

BROWNING 

BRYANT   . 

BRYCE 

BYRON     . 

CALHOUN 

CAMPBELL 

CANNING  . 

CAREY 

CARLETON 

CARLYLE  . 

CASTELAR 

CHATHAM 

CHOATE  . 

CHURCHILL 

CLAY 

COLLIER  . 

COLLINS  . 

CORELLI  . 


TIMES 
QUOTED 

I 


NAME 

CROLY 


TIMES 
QUOTED 

I 


2  CURTIS 2 

i  DALY       .        .        .        .        .  i 

i  DANTON i 

i  DAVIS,  JEFFERSON                   .  i 

9  DAVIS,  W.  S i 

3  DEPEW i 

i  DIBDIN i 

i  DICKENS  .        .        .        .        .9 

1  DILI i 

2  DOYLE i 

2  DOUGLAS                                  .  i 

i  ELIOT 2 

i  ELLIS      .        .        .  .1 

i  FENN i 

i  FICHTE i 

i  FIELDING                                 .  i 

i  Fox 2 

i  GAUDET i 

10  GAUTIER i 

i  GENSONNE       ....  2 

1  GIBBONS  .        .        .  .3 

3  GOLDSMITH     .        .        .        .  i 

2  GRATTON         .        .        .        .  i 
i  GRAY 2 

I  GUIZOT I 

i  HALLECK                                 .  i 

i  HAMILTON       ....  2 
ix 


A 11  tJwrs  Quoted 


NAME 

HANCOCK 

TIMES 
QUOTED 

4 

NAME 

PlNCKNEY 

TIMES 
QUOTED 

HARTE,  BRET  . 

POE 

PRENTJCF 

9 

HAYNE    . 
HENRY    . 
HOMER    . 

.        2 

RANDOLPH 
REAP,  T.  B.    . 

R(  »H1'SPIKRRK 

J 

.      2 
.       I 
j 

Rt  >I    \M>      M  \D\\IK 

I 

HUGO 
HUME 
HUTTON  . 
INGERSOLL 
IUVING 

.        I 
I 
.        I 

.      2 
4 

ROOSEVELT 
ROSCOE    . 
SAVAGE    . 

SCHOULER 
SCO'lT 

.       I 
.       I 

.       I 

JOHNSON  . 
KEATS 

SCOVILLE 
SEWARD  . 

.       I 

•3 

KlNGSLEY 
Kll'LING    . 

LEE 

LlPPARD    . 

.      I 
.      I 
.      I 

SEWARD,  F.  D. 
SHAKESPEARE  . 
SHERIDAN 
STERNE    . 

'     15 
.          I 
I 

LONDON  ATLAS 
LONGFELLOW  . 
Lou  VET   . 

.      I 

STEVENSON 

SUMNER    . 

TAINE 

.          I 
.         I 

LOWELL  . 

.      I 

TAYLOR   . 
TENNYSON 

.         I 
•                 .          I 

MACAU  LAY 
MAJOR     . 
MALET 

•    3 

.      2 
2 

THACKERAY     . 
THURSTON 
TRACY 

•     3 

MEAGHER 
MICHELET 
MILTON   . 
MORTON  . 
Ons 

.       I 
.       I 

-    3 
.     i 

VERGNIAUD 
WAI.  POLE 
WALLACE 
WAKE      . 
WFBSTFR 

.     i 

.      2 
.      2 

.     6 

"OUIDA" 

PERICLES 

.        .     i 

WILLIS    . 

WTILSON     . 

.     i 

.      2 

PHULIPS 

i 

YOUNG 

I 

CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   I 

BREATHING.  PAGE 

CLAVICULAR 2 

COSTAL 3 

DIAPHRAGMATIC 4 

EXERCISES 6 

CHAPTER  II 

ARTICULATION. 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  CONSONANTS 8 

How  CONSONANTS  ARE  PRODUCED 9 

EXAMPLES  FOR  PRACTICE n 

CHAPTER   III 
MODULATION. 

DEFINITION  OF  MODULATION 24 

PROPERTIES  OF  THE  HUMAN  VOICE 24 

THEIR  RELATION  TO  VOCAL  EXPRESSION    ....  24 

THE  BEND 46 

THE  FALLS 46 

THE  SWEEPS 47 

THE  SLIDES 50 

EXCEPTIONS 52 

CHAPTER   IV 

APPLICATION   OF  VOCAL  INFLECTION. 

To  THE  SIMPLE  SENTENCE 57 

To  THE  COMPLEX  SENTENCE 59 

To  THE  COMPOUND  SENTENCE 63 

To  THE  APPOSITIVE ^        .        .  70 

xi 


xii  Contents 

CHAPTER   V 

APPLICATION   OF   VOCAL    INFLECTION.  —  Continued.         PAGE 

To  THE  INTERROGATIVE  SENTENCE 73 

To  THE  EXCLAMATORY  SENTENCE 88 

To  THE  IMPERATIVE  SENTENCE 90 

CHAPTER   VI 
EMPHASIS. 

VALUES  OF  VOCAL  PROPERTIES 92 

STRESS 101 

EMPHATIC  PAUSE 105 

ANTITHESIS 106 

CHAPTER   VII 
PRACTICE 108 

CHAPTER   VIII 
DIFFICULT   SENTENCES 142 

CHAPTER    IX 
RECITATIONS   AND    DECLAMATIONS  161 


THE    PRINCIPLES    OF    ORAL 
ENGLISH 


THE 
PRINCIPLES  OF  ORAL  ENGLISH 

CHAPTER   I 
BREATHING 

To  breathe  correctly  is  as  essential  to  public  speak- 
ing, audible  reading  and  agreeable  conversation,  as 
to  breathe  at  all  is  to  physical  living.  When  the 
voice  is  not  being  used,  one  breathes  regularly,  or 
passively,  inhaling  and  exhaling,  a  constant  stream  of 
air  passing  to  and  from  the  lungs.  When  one  is 
silent,  the  air  has  only  one  function  to  perform ; 
namely,  to  purify  the  blood.  In  speaking,  however, 
the  labor  is  added  of  serving  the  vocal  organs  in  their 
creation  and  regulation  of  sound,  for  periods  long  or 
short  as  the  sentiment  that  is  being  expressed  shall 
demand. 

The  normal  act  which  is  performed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  sustaining  life  is  passive  breathing.  Passive 
breathing  is,  obviously,  impossible  while  using  the 
voice.  The  voluntary  storing  of  air  in  the  lungs  for 
speaking  or  reading  is  forced  breathing.  This  chap- 
ter treats  of  forced  breathing,  adeptness  in  which  is 
essential  to  the  public  speaker  or  reader. 


2  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

That  is  correct  breathing,  within  the  treatment 
of  the  subject  of  this  book,  which  gives  to  the  reader 
or  speaker  the  fullest  control  of  the  material  of 
which  the  voice  is  made  —  air,  as  it  is  inhaled  and 
exhaled. 

Perfect  management  of  the  respiratory  organs  is 
necessary  to  perfect  control  of  the  voice,  without 
which  there  can  be  no  sufficient  control  of  the  for- 
mation of  words.  When  failure  to  regulate  the 
breathing  results  in  a  supply  of  air  either  too  great 
or  too  small,  the  consequence  is  a  gasping  or  ex- 
plosive delivery.  With  the  lungs  undercharged  it 
is  impossible  to  produce  proper  inflections  or  to 
sustain  a  period,  especially  if  the  period  be  long. 

It  must  be  obvious,  therefore,  that  correct  breath- 
ing is  that  method  which  gives  to  speaker  or  reader 
the  fullest  control  of  the  respiratory  organs. 

Familiarity  with  the  construction  and  the  func- 
tions of  the  vocal  organs  is  helpful  in  the  study  of 
correct  breathing,  but  not  essential.  However,  a 
practical,  working  knowledge  of  how  to  breathe  is 
essential ;  and  it  may  be  obtained  by  following  the 
instructions  contained  in  this  chapter. 

There  are  three  ways  of  breathing :  — 

1.  CLAVICULAR,  or  COLLARBONE. 

2.  COSTAL,  or  LATERAL. 

3.  DIAPHRAGMATIC,  or  ABDOMINAL. 

While  Clavicular  Breathing  should  not  be  neg- 
lected in  developing  the  lungs,  and  from  a  hygi- 


Breathing  3 

enic  point  of  view,  it  should  never  be  even  con- 
sidered, much  less  practiced,  in  connection  with  the 
use  of  the  voice.  Clavicular  Breathing  inflates  only 
the  upper  parts  of  the  lungs.  This  inflation  causes 
the  upper  ribs  to  be  raised,  the  breastbone  to  be 
thrust  forward,  and  the  shoulders  and  the  collar- 
bone to  be  elevated.  As  the  shoulders  and  the 
collarbone  are  forced  upward,  they  press  against 
the  vocal  organs  in  the  throat  and  produce  a  con- 
gestion, besides  making  it  necessary,  because  of  the 
resulting  constriction  of  the  throat,  for  the  speaker 
to  exert  more  than  ordinary  force  to  expel  the  air 
in  producing  a  tone.  This  leads  to  an  attempt  to 
control  the  breath  in  the  throat.  This  in  turn,  be- 
cause the  vocal  organs  are  thereby  compressed, 
causes  a  "throaty  tone,"  rasps  the  vocal  cords,  and, 
if  persisted  in,  results  in  a  huskiness  known  as 
"  clergyman's  sore  throat." 

The  breath  cannot  be  satisfactorily  controlled  in 
the  throat,  and  the  attempt  to  control  it  there  causes 
a  jerky  tone;  the  air  is  expelled  in  spurts  of  such 
volume  that  not  all  can  be  used  in  vocalizing,  and 
the  voice  is,  as  a  consequence,  wheezy. 

Costal  or  Lateral  BreatJiing,  sometimes  called  Rib 
Breathing,  while  not  the  best  method,  is  far  supe- 
rior to  Clavicular  or  Collarbone  Breathing  in  that 
by  it  a  greater  volume  of  air  is  drawn  into  the 
lungs,  better  control  is  effected  and  none  of  the 
injurious  conditions  mentioned  above  follows. 

By  Costal  Breathing  the  middle  and  lower  parts  of 


4  The  Principles  of  Oral  EnglisJt 

the  lungs  are  expanded.  The  floating  ribs,  the  two 
lowest  ribs  on  each  side  of  the  torso,  which  are 
attached  to  the  backbone  only,  and  the  four  false 
ribs  immediately  above  them,  are  forced  outward  by 
the  inflation  of  the  lower  lungs,  thus  providing  a 
larger  cavity  for  the  reception  of  air,  as  a  conse- 
quence of  which  a  fuller,  rounder,  and  more  sustained 
tone  can  be  produced.  While  control  of  the  air  is 
better  under  this  method  of  breathing  than  under 
that  of  Clavicular  Breathing,  it  is  not  perfect  when 
used  alone. 

In  Diaphragmatic  or  Abdominal  Breathing  the 
arch  of  the  diaphragm  is  forced  downward,  thus 
enlarging  the  lung  cavity  in  a  perpendicular  direc- 
tion. The  visible  physical  evidence  of  Diaphrag- 
matic Breathing  is  the  distention  of  the  abdominal 
wall,  a  condition  induced  by  the  diaphragm,  as  the 
arch  is  forced  downward,  bearing  upon  the  intestines. 
The  latter,  thus  forced  into  some  degree  of  compact- 
ness, are  thrust  outward  against  the  abdominal  wall, 
to  restrict  the  expansion  of  which  there  is  no  bony 
structure. 

Clavicular  Breathing  should  never  be  used.  Costal 
and  Diaphragmatic  breathing  used  together  consti- 
tute the  best  method  of  breathing.  By  this  combina- 
tion a  larger  volume  of  air  can  be  stored  for  use  in 
the  lung  cavity  and  its  expulsion  can  be  controlled, 
so  far  as  such  control  applies  to  vocalizing,  abso- 
lutely. As  a  result  a  full,  round  tone  can  be  obtained, 
the  throat  and  vocal  cords  will  be  relieved  of  all 


Breathing  5 

undue  strain,  and  periods  of  unusual  length  can  be 
sustained. 

EXERCISES  IN  BREATHING 

The  use  of  the  voice  is  an  art.  One  definition  of 
the  word  art  is,  "Facility  resulting  from  practice." 
•Starting  from  the  self-evident  fact  that  no  expertness 
can  result  except  from  practice,  the  logical  conclusion 
is  reached  that  to  a  complete  mastery  of  the  voice, 
practice  of  every  action  which  tends  toward  that 
accomplishment  is  necessary.  Do  not  think  that 
any  good  result  in  the  art  of  speaking  can  be  attained 
without  such  practice,  and  do  not  neglect  practice  in 
breathing  simply  because  it  is  an  act  which  you  are 
performing  every  moment  of  your  life.  Physicians 
and  men  who  have  to  do  with  the  development  of 
the  human  system  prove,  from  statistics  carefully 
compiled,  that  comparatively  few  persons  breathe 
correctly ;  that  is,  so  manipulate  the  diaphragm  that 
the  breathing  apparatus  is  used  in  the  best  way  for 
physical  development.  The  same  is  true,  also,  of  the 
organs  used  in  speaking;  namely,  throat,  mouth, 
tongue,  teeth  and  lips. 

Practice  in  breathing  is  the  first  thing  which  must 
be  insisted  upon  in  teaching  oral  English.  If  the 
pupil  will  practice  ten  minutes  each  day,  in  periods 
of  two  minutes  each,  according  to  the  directions 
which  follow,  a  few  weeks  will  bring  about  a  develop- 
ment of  the  respiratory  organs  and  a  facility  in  ma- 
nipulating them  that  will  be  no  less  surprising  than 


6  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

satisfactory  and  valuable,  from  both  a  physical  and 
an  artistic  standpoint. 

There  are  rules  which  must  be  observed  in  order 
that  the  pupil  shall  receive  the  full  benefit  of  these 
exercises. 

First,  always  inhale  through  the  nose. 

Second,  do  not  try  to  control  the  voice  in  the 
throat. 

Third,  never  strain  the  breathing  until  you  feel  a 
pressure  about  the  head  or  eyes. 

Fourth,  when  you  have  continuously  expelled  one 
full  breath,  for  so  long  that  you  find  yourself  to  be 
emitting  it  in  irregular  gasps,  stop  —  but  begin 
again. 

Fifth,  never  practice  breathing  before  breakfast. 
It  is  likely  to  superinduce  nausea. 

Sixth,  never  exercise  after  a  meal,  because  a  full 
stomach  prevents  complete  respiration. 

Stand  erect,  resting  the  weight  of  the  body  on  the 
ball  of  the  foot,  with  chest  thrown  forward  and  up. 
The  hands  should  be  placed  on  the  waist,  one  on 
either  side,  with  the  fingers  on  the  abdomen.  This 
position  of  the  hands  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
operation  of  breathing,  but  it  will  assist  the  pupil 
by  enabling  him  to  ascertain  by  physical  observation 
the  degree  of  progress  made  in  inflating  the  lungs. 
That  is,  with  his  hands  he  can  feel  the  expansion 
of  the  abdomen  caused  by  the  lowering  of  the  dia- 
phragm. 

Exercise  i.  —  Take  in  the  breath  through  the  nos- 


Breathing  j 

trils,  slowly  and  almost  to  the  full  capacity  of  the 
lungs.  It  is  never  advisable  to  breathe  to  the  extreme 
limit  of  capacity,  because  when  that  is  reached  the 
control  of  the  organs  is  limited.  Nor  should  the 
lungs  be  undercharged,  because  the  object  is  to 
develop  them  by  expansion,  and  so  bring  about  a 
greater  capacity.  Now,  with  the  lungs  properly 
filled,  expel  the  breath  slowly,  regulating  its  dis- 
charge by  making  a  hissing  noise  through  the 
teeth. 

Exercise  2. — Take  in  the  breath  rapidly;  expel 
it  slowly,  controlling  it  by  making  the  same  hissing 
noise  indicated  in  the  first  exercise. 

Exercise  3.  —  Take  in  the  breath  slowly ;  expel  it 
rapidly,  hissing. 

Exercise  4.  —  Take  in  the  breath  rapidly ;  expel  it 
rapidly,  hissing. 

Exercise  5. — After  having  exercised  for  ten  minutes, 
in  periods  of  two  minutes  each,  select  some  matter 
which  reads  smoothly,  such  as  Tennyson's  "  Brook," 
inflate  the  lungs  fully  and  slowly,  and  then  read 
aloud  as  much  of  it  as  you  can  without  taking  breath. 
Disregard  the  pauses,  and  make  your  rendering  one 
continuous  flow  of  distinctly  enunciated  words. 

Progress  made  in  controlling  the  breath  should  be 
carefully  noted,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  that  a 
knowledge  of  progress  made  always  encourages  to 
continuance. 


CHAPTER   II 

ARTICULATION 

ARTICULATION  is  the  art  of  speaking  with  distinct- 
ness the  sounds  of  which  a  word  is  composed.  When 
the  consonant  sounds  are  distinct,  speech  is  distinct ; 
it  is  obscure  when  the  consonant  sounds  are  obscure. 
The  vowels  are  important  in  pronunciation,  but  so 
far  as  articulation  is  concerned,  they  take  care  of 
themselves;  and  this  chapter  treats  of  articulation, 
not  of  pronunciation.  Failure  to  give  proper  quan- 
tity to  the  vowels  causes  errors  in  pronunciation  ;  but 
failure  to  give  proper  value  to  consonant  sounds 
produces  obscure  and  indistinct  enunciation. 

The  primary  purpose  of  every  speaker  is  to  be 
understood.  Every  speaker  has  an  object  which  he 
may  achieve  if  he  is  understood,  but  not  otherwise. 
If  his  articulation  is  indistinct,  he  cannot  be  under- 
stood, and  he  fails,  therefore,  in  his  object.  Articula- 
tion, then,  is  the  first  essential  of  all  speaking,  whether 
to  a  large  and  public  audience  or  to  one  small  and 
private. 

The  classification  of  the  consonants  which  follows 
has  been  adopted  because  it  has  been  found,  in  actual 
practice,  easy  of  comprehension  by  high  school  and 
college  students. 

8 


A  rticulation  9 

Consonants,  classed  according  to  the  methods  by 
which  they  are  produced  by  the  organs  of  speech, 
are :  Labials,  Dentals,  Palatals,  Nasals  and  Linguals. 
They  are  subdivided  into  Pure  Consonants  and  Semi- 
Consonants. 

A  Pure  Consonant  is  the  sound  produced  by  the 
breath  bursting  forth  as  an  obstruction,  caused  by  the 
conjunction  of  two  or  more  of  the  organs  of  speech, 
is  removed  suddenly.  The  Pure  Consonants  are : 
P,  F,  T,  TH  soft,  S,  SH,  CH,  K,  C,  Q,  sometimes  X. 

A  Semi-Consonant  is  the  sound  which  ensues  when, 
with  the  vocal  cords  so  separated  that  they  produce 
a  tone  less  than  full,  the  breath  bursts  forth  as  an 
obstruction,  caused  by  a  conjunction  of  two  of  the 
other  organs  of  speech,  is  removed  suddenly.  The 
Semi-Consonants  are :  B,  M,  W,  V,  TH  hard,  Z,  ZH, 
J,  G,  Y,  L,  R,  N,  NG  and  NK. 

The  physical  method  by  which  each  consonant  and 
semi-consonant  is  produced  will  be  explained,  as  such 
consonant  or  semi-consonant  is  discussed  individually. 

The  Labials  are  consonant  sounds  made  with  the 
lips.  They  are :  P,  B,  M,  W,  F  and  V. 

The  Dentals  are  consonant  sounds  made  with  the 
teeth.  They  are :  T,  D,  TH  soft,  TH  hard,  S,  SH, 
Z,  ZH,  CH  and  J. 

The  Palatals  are  consonant  sounds  made  with  the 
palate.  They  are  :  K,  and  C  equal  to  K  bard,  G 
and  Y. 

The  Linguals  are  consonant  sounds  made  with  the 
tongue.  They  are  L  and  R. 


io  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

The  Nasals  are  consonant  sounds  made  by  the  free 
escape  of  vocalized  breath  through  the  nose.  They 
are:  N,  NG  and  NK. 

The  consonant  H  is  simply  an  aspirate  and  has  no 
sonance ;  Q  is  a  form  of  K,  and  X  is  a  combination 
of  K  and  S. 

Practice  in  speaking  the  sentences  found  in  the 
various  groups  of  examples  in  this  chapter  will  be  of 
value  in  achieving  distinctness  in  articulation.  The 
articulation  of  the  consonants  in  the  words  should 
be  not  only  distinct,  but  should  be  exaggerated  in 
order  to  obtain  the  best  results. 

It  is  to  be  remembered,  in  this  connection,  that 
practice  of  examples  in  itself  never  brings  about  the 
lasting  result  that  is  desirable.  Practice  of  these 
examples  will  effect  a  certain  facility  of  articulation, 
but  this  will  be  of  no  practical  value  unless  it  is 
carried  into  the  ordinary  conversation  of  private  life. 
In  other  words,  what  is,  in  the  practice  of  these 
examples,  a  voluntary  act,  must  be  persisted  in  until 
it  becomes  an  involuntary  act,  distinct  and  easy, 
although  artificially  acquired. 

The  sentences  have  been  so  arranged  in  groups 
of  three  that  the  consonant  sounds  which  are  to  be 
presented  in  them  occur  at  the  beginning  of  the 
words  in  the  first,  in  the  middle  of  the  words  in 
the  second  and  at  the  end  of  the  words  in  the 
third. 

The  object  of  these  examples  is  to  afford  practice 
in  articulating  sounds,  so  no  especial  attention  has 


Articulation  II 

been  paid  to  letters.  Where  C  could  be  used  inter- 
changeably with  S,  or  with  K,  for  instance,  no  effort 
had  been  made  to  avoid  such  use. 

LABIALS 

P  is  produced  by  pressing  the  lips  together,  elevat- 
ing the  nasal  veil,  or  soft  palate,  compressing  the 
breath  in  the  mouth  against  the  lips,  and  then  allow- 
ing it  to  burst  forth  as  the  lips  are  separated 
suddenly. 

Examples. 

1.  Prehistoric  peoples  used  no  pence  for  purchase. 

2.  Accomplished     speakers    display    aptitude    in 

properly  applying  the  principles  of  aspiration 
and  inspiration. 

3.  Under  a  lamp  the  Lenape  promised  to  help  the 

group  to  drop  the  prop  and  stop  the  antelope 
in  its  leap  over  the  damp  trap  shown  on  the 
map. 

B  is  produced  in  the  same  manner  as  P,  except  that 
a  slight  murmur  occurs  before  the  lips  are  separated. 
Care  must  be  exercised  not  to  follow  the  opening  of 
the  lip  obstruction  by  a  vowel. 

Examples. 

1.  Beautiful  brooks  babbled  by  between  blossom- 

ing banks. 

2.  Subdued  by  the  obdurate  constable,  the  miser- 

able robber  was  obliged  to  reimburse  doubly 


12  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

the   venerable    archbishop    for   the   valuable 
ruby  he  had  abstracted  from  a  table  in  the 
arbutus  arbor  on  a  Sabbath  in  December. 
3.    The  Arab  mob  stabbed  the  cob  and  drew  the 
cab  to  the  curb. 

M  is  produced  by  pressing  the  lips  closely  together, 
leaving  the  nasal  passage  open,  and  making  a  hum- 
ming sound. 

Examples. 

1.  Many  Mohammedans  made  mad  music  at  the 

merry  marriage  of  the  Mahdavi  maid. 

2.  Remember  to    comment   upon    and  emphasize 

these  examples,  assuming  that  many  members 
of  your  immature  assembly  are  ambitious  and 
emulative. 

3.  After  some  time,  Hiram  came  home  from  the 

extreme  end  of  the  farm,  the  lamb  under  his 
arm,  numb,  but  safe  from  harm. 

W  is  produced  by  thrusting  the  lips  forward  in  a 
position  to  pronounce  long  OO,  making  at  the  same 
time  a  murmuring  sound  in  the  throat,  then  drawing 
the  lips  back  into  a  position  suitable  to  the  pronunci- 
ation of  the  vowel  which  is  to  follow  immediately. 

Examples. 

1.  Willow  wands  waved    weirdly   in    wild    winter 

winds. 

2.  Bewildered,    but    unawed    by   the    crowd,    the 

newly   awakened    dowager   arose    from    her 


Articulation  13 

couch  and,  bowing,  awaited  the  bestowal  of 
the  jeweled  crown. 

3.    Now  to  follow  the  plow,  now  to   sow,  now  to 
mow  —  that's  a  farmer's  life. 

In  words  beginning  with  WH,  the  H  is  pronounced 
before  the  W.  Faulty  articulation  in  the  production 
of  words  spelled  thus  is  common,  and  is  to  be  sedu- 
lously avoided.  Do  not  omit  the  sound  of  H,  and  so 
pronounce,  for  instance,  wJien  as  wen. 
Example. 

The  whalers  whistled  while  they  whisked  the 
white  whale  to  the  wharf  with  a  whip. 

F  is  produced  by  pressing  the  lower  lip  lightly 
against  the  upper  teeth  and  forcing  the  breath 
through  the  obstruction  thus  formed. 

Examples. 

1.  Our  forefathers  fought  fearlessly  for  freedom. 

2.  Opportunities    for   benefiting    the    unfortunate 

and  comforting  the  afflicted  are  offered  often 
to  affluence. 

3.  With    a   buff   mastiff   and   a   staff,    the    rough 

bailiff  forced  the  deaf  waif  to  surrender  half 
of  his  pelf. 

V  is  produced  in  the  same  manner  as  is  F,  but  is 
accompanied  by  a  slight  murmuring  sound. 

Examples. 

i.    Value   vigorous  verbiage;    it  avails  with  virile 
men. 


14  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

2.  Vocation  is  for  livelihood ;  avocation  for  diver- 

sion. 

3.  The  active  Khedive,  apprehensive  of  a  decisive 

negative  from  his  offensive  relative,  strove  to 
move  for  an  effective  positive. 

DENTALS 

T  is  produced  by  pressing  the  point  of  the  tongue 
against  the  roof  of  the  mouth  just  back  of,  but  not 
touching,  the  teeth,  arching  the  nasal  veil,  compress- 
ing the  air  against  the  obstruction  thus  formed,  and 
then  freeing  it  by  releasing  the  contact  of  the  tongue 
with  the  roof  of  the  mouth  and  allowing  the  breath 
to  rush  through  the  small  orifice  thus  created. 

Examples. 

1.  Taciturn  and  talkative  pupils  are  troublesome 

to  teachers. 

2.  Instructors     who     portray    facts    interestingly 

attract  untiring  attention. 

3.  To  repeat  the  first  defeat  was  a  brilliant  act 

on  the  part  of  the  proletariat,  whose  recent 
debate  was  a  target  for  every  dart  and  viru- 
lent epithet  of -the  late  candidate. 

D  is  produced  in  the  same  manner  as  T,  but 
with  a  murmur  of  the  voice  preceding  the  removal  of 
the  obstruction. 

Examples. 

i.    Dull  debates  develop  doubtful  decisions. 


Articulation  15 

2.  Cinderella,  abandoning  the  cinders,  ended  her 

childhood. 

3.  Startled  and  frightened  by  his  loud  word,  the 

awakened  child  stooped,  seized  the  cord  with 
her  uninjured  hand,  tied  it  around  a  post  by 
the  band-stand  near  the  pond,  and  tightened 
it. 

TH  soft  is  produced  by  placing  the  tongue  between 
the  teeth,  touching  both  upper  and  lower  sets,  arch- 
ing the  nasal  veil  and  forcing  the  breath  between  the 
tongue  and  the  teeth. 

Examples. 

1.  Three  thousand  thankful  thanes  thronged  the 

theater. 

2.  Slothful  Catherine,  watching  within  the  smithy, 

saw  Hathaway,  wrathful  and  frothing,  rushing 
across  the  pathway  between  the  brothel  and 
the  cathedral. 

3.  Both  were  loath  to  travel  the  length  of  the  sixth 

path  to  reach  the  fourth  booth. 

TH  hard  is  produced  in  the  same  manner  as  TH 
soft,  but  with  a  murmur  of  the  voice  throughout  its 
production. 

Examples. 

1.  Rejoice  with  them,  though  then  and  there  they 

and  theirs  will  be  greater  than  thee  and  thine. 

2.  The  brothers  feared  the  weather,  so  their  mother 

gathered  their  father's  clothes  from  the 
heather. 


1 6  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

3.  Delmarthe  would  mouthe,  breathe  hard,  and 
writhe  with  every  effort  to  clothe  his  lithe 
body. 

Only  ten  words  in  the  English  language  begin  with 
the  hard  sound  of  TH.  They  are:  than,  that,  the, 
tJiee,  (with  its  declensions,  thou,  thy,  thyself  and 
thine)  they,  (with  its  declensions,  them,  their  and 
theirs}  then,  there,  (with  the  suffixed  prepositions, 
after,  about,  at,  by,  for,  fore,  from,  in,  inafter,  of,  on, 
out,  unto,  upon,  with  and  withal)  this,  (with  its  de- 
clensions, these  and  those)  tJnis,  (with  the  suffix, 
wise)  though. 

S  is  produced  by  bringing  the  teeth  near  together, 
but  without  touching,  allowing  the  tongue  to  lie 
flat  in  the  mouth  with  the  point  turned  upward, 
arching  the  nasal  veil  and  forcing  the  breath  across 
the  teeth. 

Examples. 

1.  Stinging    salt    spray   splashes    the    sailor  who 

stands  silent  in  the  stern  of  the  sloop. 

2.  Cicero  discovered  the  disgraceful  conspiracy  of 

Cataline,  and,  in  a  caustic  and  merciless  dis- 
course, disclosed  the  hostile  plot  to  the  aston- 
ished and  astounded  assembly  of  senators. 

3.  Apophasis  is  emphasis,  though  not  stress. 

SH  is  produced  by  bringing  the  teeth  near  to- 
gether, but  without  touching,  slightly  elevating  the 
tongue  in  the  back  of  the  mouth,  with  the  point 


Articulation  17 

less  elevated  than  in  the  production  of  S,  arching 
the  nasal  veil  and  forcing  the  breath  across  the 
teeth. 

Examples. 

1.  Shivering  and  shedding  tears,  she  shyly  shel- 

tered her  shapely  shoulders,  using  a  sheet 
for  a  shawl. 

2.  The  tactician  wished  to  attract  the  attention  of 

the  worshipful  bishop  to  the  wet  ashes  which 
splashed  the  thrashing  branches  of  the 
acacia. 

3.  The  wish  of  the  rash  Irish  was  to  rush,  push 

the  skirmish  to  a  finish  and  then  vanish. 

Z  is  produced  in  the  same  manner  as  S,  but  with 
the  murmur  of  the  voice  continuing  throughout  its 
length. 

Examples. 

1.  Zealous  Zulus  zigzagged  the  zebras  among  the 

zebus. 

2.  Elizabeth,  miserably  inclosed  in  the  hazy,  mias- 

matic and  dismal  mazes  of  the  chasm,  hesi- 
tated in  her  desire  to  send  for  Hezekiah,  the 
physician,  who  lived  opposite  her  residence. 

3.  The   matins    of   the   antipodes    arise  with    our 

vespers. 

ZH  is  produced  in  the  same  manner  as  SH,  with 
the  added  murmur  of  the  voice  throughout  its  length. 
It  never  occurs  at  the  beginning  or  the  ending  of  a 
word. 


1 8  The  Principles  of  Oral  EnglisJi 

Example. 

Ahasuerus,  the  usurer,  counted  it  a  casualty 
when  the  casuist,  seeking  sapphires,  caught  him 
leisurely  measuring  his  azure  treasure. 

CH  is  a  combination  of  T  and  SH.  Place  the 
tongue  in  ?.  position,  to  produce  T  and  the  teeth  in  a 
position  to  produce  SH  ;  then,  by  a  sudden  emission 
of  the  breath,  produce  these  sounds  in  the  order 
named,  running  the  T  into  the  SH,  stopping  the 
breath  abruptly  the  instant  the  combined  sound  has 
been  completed. 

Examples. 

1.  A  child  chidden  is  a  child  checked. 

2.  The  watchful  archer,  catching  the  poacher  as 

he  filched  three  flitches  of  bacon,  dispatched 
the  urchin,  who  fetched  the  preacher  who 
was  teaching  in  the  ancient  institution. 

3.  In   her  search  for  the  rich  brooch  which  was 

lost  on  the  porch  of  the  church,  the  Scotch 
witch  fired  the  thatch  with  a  torch  of 
pitch. 

J  is  a  combination  of  D  and  ZH.  Place  the  tongue 
in  a  position  to  produce  D  and  the  teeth  in  a  position 
to  produce  ZH  ;  then,  by  a  sudden  emission  of  the 
breath,  produce  these  sounds  in  the  order  named, 
running  the  D  into  the  ZH,  stopping  the  breath 
abruptly  the  instant  the  combined  sound  has  been 
completed.  This  is  the  same  sound  as  that  of  G 
soft. 


Articulation  19 

Examples. 

1.  John,    jilted   just   because  of   Jane's   jealousy, 

jeered  at  her  judgment. 

2.  The    language    of    the    adjutant's    messenger 

convinced  a  majority  of  the  assemblage  of 
besieged  and  injured  refugees  that  the  exi- 
gency had  been  adjusted. 

3.  Judge  Wringe,  in  a  rage  because  he  could  not 

engage  ferriage  at  Hedge  Forge  for  George's 
marriage  at  the  Grange,  forgot  his  age  and 
smashed  the  carriage  with  a  huge  sledge. 
* 

PALATALS 

K  is  produced  by  arching  the  base  of  the  tongue 
against  the  nasal  veil,  compressing  the  breath  back 
of  them,  and  expelling  the  breath  suddenly  as  the 
obstruction  is  abruptly  removed. 

Examples. 

1.  Crowns  are  for  kings  ;  crosses  for  Christians. 

2.  Snakes  are  scorched  with  forked  sticks. 

3.  The  cook,  flung  to  the  deck  by  the  shock,  awoke 

to  find  that  the  bark  had  struck  a  rock  in  the 
creek  and  was  aleak. 

G  hard  is  produced  in  the  same  manner  as  K,  but 
with  a  murmur  of  the  voice  accompanying  the  pro- 
duction. 

Examples. 

i.    Gayly  gowned  girls  gazed  at  the  gilded,  glitter- 
ing gig  and  giggled. 


2O  The  Principles  of  Oral  EnglisJi 

2.  Vigorous    epigrams   in    the    English    language 

were  wringing  the  Hungarian  tongue  of  the 
ragged  demagogue  as  he  harangued  and 
argued  angrily  against  the  programme. 

3.  When  her  dog  dug  a  frog  from  under  a  log,  the 

hag,  who  sat  on  a  rag  of  a  rug  thrown  over  a 
keg,  caught  it  by  the  leg. 

Y  is  produced  with  the  teeth  and  lips  separated, 
the  middle  of  the  tongue  arched,  the  nasal  veil  ele- 
vated, and  the  voice  murmuring  faintly  the  sound  of 
the  vowel  I,  short. 

Examples. 

1.  The  Yankee  yacht  yawed  a  yard  and  took  the 

yellow  yarn  from  the  yawl. 

2.  His  buoyant  opinion  promised  a  union  beyond 

the  canon  with  his  minion  in  January. 

There  is  no  consonant  sound  of  Y  occurring  at  the 
end  of  a  word. 

LINGUALS 

L  is  produced  by  placing  the  tip  of  the  tongue  in 
position  to  make  the  sound  D,  but  without  touching 
the  sides  of  the  tongue  to  the  teeth,  arching  the  nasal 
veil  and  murmuring,  the  murmur  being  produced 
well  forward  in  the  mouth. 

Examples. 

i.    Lilly  lifted  lightly  the  low-lying  leaves  of  the 
lilac  bush  and  looked  longingly  for  her  lover. 


A  rticu  la  tion  2 1 

2.  William  willingly  yielded  the  alley  to  the  yell- 

ing villains. 

3.  When  the  valuable  jewel  fell  into  the  well,  all 

the    people    rushed,    pell-mell,    to    tell    the 
Cardinal. 

R  is  produced  by  depressing  the  back  part  of  the 
tongue,  elevating  the  tip  of  the  tongue,  arching  the 
nasal  veil  and  emitting  a  slight  murmur,  resembling 
E,  short. 

The  trilled  R  is  not  in  use  in  this  country. 

Examples. 

1.  Regard  for  the  rules  of   rhetoric  is  a  require- 

ment for  ready  reading. 

2.  Searching    for    Harry,    George    drove    a   car- 

nage   hurriedly    in    a    circle   forty    furlongs 
across. 

3.  For  fear  that  the  fire  would  injure  the  furniture, 

four   more  wire  screens  were  brought  from 
the  store  and  placed  before  it  on  the  floor. 

NASALS 

N  is  produced  by  pressing  the  tip  of  the  tongue 
against  the  roof  of  the  mouth  just  back  of  the  teeth, 
the  lips  apart,  lowering  the  nasal  veil  and  allowing  a 
vocalized  breath  to  escape  through  the  nose. 

Examples. 

i.    It  is  known   now  that  only  niggardly  nations 
neglect  their  navies. 


22  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

2.  Immense    throngs    witnessed    the    ceremonies 

attendant  upon  the  recent  coronation  of 
England's  monarch. 

3.  In  the  forenoon,  as  Catherine,  in  a  worn  cotton 

gown,  began  to  churn,  John  ran  down  the 
lane. 

NG  is  produced  by  holding  the  lips  and  teeth  apart, 
the  tip  of  the  tongue  being  pressed  against  the  lower 
teeth,  the  back  of  the  tongue  lifted  against  the  nasal 
veil,  which  is  dropped  slightly,  and  allowing  a  vocal- 
ized breath  to  escape  through  the  nose. 

Examples. 

1.  Jingling  her  dangling  bangles,  a  single  singer 

lingered  longer  among  the  hagglers  in  the 
angle. 

2.  Pending  the  settling  of  the  long  misunderstand- 

ing, the  willing  hireling  was  holding  the  ring 
over  which  the  men  were  disputing,  expecting 
that  one  would  fling  a  shilling  to  him  for 
being  obliging. 

The  sound  NG  never  occurs  at  the  beginning  of  a 
word.  When  it  occurs  in  the  middle  of  a  word  it  is 
frequently  followed  immediately  by  G  hard.  When 
it  occurs  at  the  end  of  a  word,  however,  it  is  never 
properly  followed  by  the  sound  of  G  hard.  When, 
therefore,  it  is  being  produced  at  the  end  of  a  word, 
the  vocal  organs  must  remain  in  the  positions  specified 
while  the  vocalized  breath  is  escaping,  because  their 
separation  results  in  the  sound  of  G  hard  or  K. 


Articulation  23 

NK  is  the  same  sound  as  NG  with  the  sound  of  K 
following  immediately  the  sound  of  NG.  It  never 
occurs  at  the  beginning  of  a  word. 

Examples. 

1.  The  lanky  Yankee  winked  and  blinked  as  he 

thanked  the  banker. 

2.  The  pink  flowers  grew  rank  on  the  dank  bank 

near  the  river's  brink. 

Q  and  X  have  been  omitted  from  this  discussion  of 
consonants  because  Q  is  equivalent  to  K,  and  X  is 
equivalent  to  KS  and  GZ,  all  of  which  sounds  have 
been  treated  in  their  proper  places.  The  methods  of 
producing  these  sounds  present  no  special  difficulties 
of  articulation. 


CHAPTER   III 
MODULATION 

MODULATION  is  any  variation  of  tone ;  and  tone,  in 
the  application  of  the  term  to  the  subject  under  dis- 
cussion in  this  book,  is  the  sound  of  the  human  voice 
used  in  speaking  or  reading. 

Tone  has  four  recognized  properties.  They  are : 
Quality,  Force,  Pitch  and  Rate. 

Any  variation  in  any  of  these  properties,  such  as 
change  from  one  kind  of  quality  of  tone  to  another, 
or  from  one  degree  of  force,  pitch  or  rate  to  another 
degree  of  the  same  property,  is  modulation. 

Quality  is  that  property  of  the  human  voice  by 
which  expression  is  given  to  a  thought,  an  emotion, 
a  feeling,  or  a  sentiment  by  the  kind  of  tone  used  in 
speaking. 

Force  is  the  energy  with  which  words  are  uttered. 

Pitch  is  the  elevation  or  depression  of  the  voice  in 
the  gamut. 

Rate  is  the  speed  at  which  words  are  uttered. 

The  basic  principle  of  vocal  expression  is  Quality, 
because  it,  above  all  other  properties,  is  the  most 
easily  affected  by  sentiment  or  emotion.  It  cannot 
be  used,  however,  except  in  conjunction  with  one 
or  more  of  the  other  properties  of  the  human  voice, 

24 


Modulation  25 

Force,  Rate  or  Pitch,  and  so  at  least  two  of  the  four 
properties  occur  in  the  expression  of  a  thought,  a 
feeling,  an  emotion,  or  a  sentiment. 

Any  change  in  Quality,  Force,  Pitch  or  Rate,  when 
it  occurs  involuntarily,  is  the  vocal  expression  of  a 
mental  condition ;  when  it  is  produced  voluntarily  it 
is  the  e'ffort  of  the  speaker  to  reproduce  the  vocal 
evidence  of  the  mental  condition  which  originally 
gave  rise  naturally  to  the  particular  modification 
thus  reproduced. 

The  various  kinds  of  Quality  are  called  Normal,  or 
Pure,  Tone,  Orotund,  Guttural  and  Whisper. 

Normal  Quality,  sometimes  called  Pure  Tone,  is  the 
customary  sound  of  one's  voice  as  it  is  used  in  stating 
a  fact  which  is  not  associated  with  emotion  of  any 
kind.  Conceive  one  who  is  wholly  uninterested  in 
the  state  of  the  weather  saying ;  "  It  is  raining." 
The  mind  being  unaffected  by  any  emotion,  the 
voice  expresses  no  sentiment  and  is,  for  this  reason, 
Normal,  or  Pure,  in  quality  or  tone. 

The  Orotund  is  full  and  round,  and  is  the  evidence 
given  by  the  tone  of  the  voice  of  appreciation  of  a 
sentiment  of  reverence,  grandeur,  sublimity,  devotion 
or  any  other  elevating  sentiment. 

Example. 

The   Lord  is  in  His  holy  temple;  let  all  the 
earth  keep  silence  before  Him.  — Bible. 

All  four  of  the  sentiments  mentioned  above  are 
embodied  in  the  idea  conveyed  by  these  words. 


26  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

The  Orotund  Quality  is  used  in  their  delivery.  Being 
full,  round  and  large,  it  is  the  nearest  approach  of 
which  the  human  voice  is  capable  to  adequate  con- 
veyance of  the  sentiments  expressed  in  the  sentence, 
because  these  being  themselves  large  they  require  a 
similar  quality  of  tone  to  convey  an  appreciation  of 
their  appearance  or  conception. 

The  Guttural  is  a  cramped,  throaty  tone,  flat  and 
without  resonance.  It  is  used  to  illustrate  a  spirit  of 
revenge  or  a  mental  condition  of  anger,  hate,  or  any 
other  malignant  passion  intensified  to  such  a  degree 
that  the  mental  agitation  becomes  physical  also,  and 
so  produces  a  condition  of  rage. 

Example. 

Shy.  To  bait  fish  withal !  if  it  will  feed  noth- 
ing else,  it  will  feed  my  revenge.  He  hath  dis- 
graced me,  and  hindered  me  half  a  million ; 
laughed  at  my  losses,  mocked  at  my  gains,  scorned 
my  nation,  thwarted  my  bargains,  cooled  my 
friends,  heated  my  enemies ;  and  what's  his 
reason  ?  I  am  a  Jew.  Hath  not  a  Jew  eyes  ? 
hath  not  a  Jew  hands,  organs,  dimensions,  senses, 
affections,  passions?  fed  with  the  same  food,  hurt 
with  the  same  weapons,  subject  to  the  same 
diseases,  healed  by  the  same  means,  warmed  and 
cooled  by  the  same  winter  and  summer,  as  a 
Christian  is  ?  If  you  prick  us,  do  we  not  bleed  ? 
if  you  tickle  us,  do  we  not  laugh  ?  if  you  poison 
us,  do  we  not  die?  and  if  you  wrong  us,  shall  we 


Modulation  27 

not  revenge  ?  If  we  are  like  you  in  the  rest,  we 
will  resemble  you  in  that.  If  a  Jew  wrong  a 
Christian,  what  is  his  humility  ?  revenge.  The 
villainy  you  teach  me  I  will  execute  ;  and  it  shall 
go  hard  but  I  will  better  the  instruction. 

—  Shakespeare. 

It  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  rage,  in  connection 
with  malignant  passion,  is  both  mental  and  physical. 
Darwin,  discussing  malignant  passion,  says :  "  A 
man  may  intensely  hate  another,  but  until  his  bodily 
frame  is  affected,  he  cannot  be  said  to  be  enraged." 

While  the  whole  body  is  affected  by  a  condition 
of  rage,  this  extreme  passion  has  a  peculiar  effect 
upon  the  muscles  of  the  throat,  which  it  causes  to 
become  constricted,  sometimes  even  to  the  closing 
of  the  thorax  so  that  the  patient  can  neither  speak 
nor  breathe.  The  effort  to  enunciate  while  one  is 
thus  choked  produces  the  Guttural  Tone,  which 
becomes,  for  this  reason,  the  vocal  expression  of 
rage. 

DEFINITION 

Whisper  is  articulate  aspiration. 

Some  writers  class  as  a  quality  what  they  call 
semi-tone,  which  is  a  combination  of  a  tone,  or  full 
vocalization,  and  a  whisper.  The  semi-tone,  how- 
ever, is  essentially  a  whisper  and  should  be  con- 
sidered as  such.  It  is  included  here  in  the  treatment 
of  Whisper.  It  is  commonly  referred  to  as  Stage 
Whisper. 


28  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Whisper  is  used  in  portraying  an  idea  of  quietness, 
of  secrecy,  of  extreme  physical  weakness,  of  deep 
awe,  of  excessive  fear,  and  of  any  emotion,  free  vent 
to  the  full  vocal  expression  of  which  is  denied  to  the 
speaker  by  some  circumstance,  either  external  or 
internal.  This  is  true  always  when  the  speaker  is 
expressing  his  own  involuntary  emotions ;  but  when 
he  is  reproducing  the  vocal  expression  of  another's 
emotions,  custom  has  dictated  the  use  of  the  semi- 
tone in  the  place  of  the  Whisper,  and  it  thus 
becomes,  in  many  cases,  the  conventional  method  of 
expressing  any  of  the  mental  conditions  indicated 
above.  Some  of  the  following  examples,  by  all  of 
which  the  writers  certainly  intended  to  portray  emo- 
tions the  vocal  expression  of  which  would  naturally 
be  conveyed  by  a  Whisper,  are  conventionally  re- 
produced in  a  semi-tone. 

Wliisper  is  of  three  kinds  :  Gentle,  Forceful  and 
Explosive. 

Gentle  Whisper  is  the  quietest  tone  of  which  we 
are  capable.  It  has  the  least  carrying  power,  and 
for  that  reason  has  been  adopted  naturally  when  the 
speaker  did  not  wish  to  be  overheard  by  anybody 
at  a  distance.  It  has  been  used,  therefore,  in  all 
time,  to  convey  ideas  when  the  wish  has  been  to 
avoid  awakening  a  sleeping  person,  disturbing  the 
sick,  or  attracting  the  attention  of  any  one  to  whom 
information  was  not  to  be  conveyed,  and  has  been  so 
used  by  everybody,  from  the  whispering  child  in  the 
schoolroom  to  the  villain  plotting  against  the  welfare 


Modulation  29 

of  another.  It  requires  the  least  physical  effort  on 
the  part  of  the  speaker,  and  is,  therefore,  the  tone 
attributed  to  the  very  sick,  the  dying,  or  persons  in 
whom  bodily  weakness  is  very  pronounced. 

Gentle  Whisper  is  used  in  conveying  an  idea  of 
quietness,  of  secrecy  or  caution,  of  extreme  physical 
weakness,  and  of  deep  awe. 

The  following  example  is  taken  from  the  play  of 
"  Othello."  The  Moor  is  in  the  room  of  his  sleeping 
wife,  whom  he  is  about  to  murder.  Before  awaken- 
ing her  so  that  he  may  tell  her  why  she  dies,  Othello 
runs  over  the  situation  in  a  soliloquy.  Since  he  does 
not  wish  Desdemona  to  awaken  before  he  has  defi- 
nitely resolved  upon  her  death  and  has  fully  prepared 
his  own  mind  for  the  act,  Othello  speaks  in  a  tone 
which  will  not  disturb  her  slumber. 

The  pupil  must  distinguish  between  the  actual 
whisper  and  the  tone  which  is  assumed  in  repro- 
ducing whisper  situations.  Gentle  Whisper  argues  a 
desire  for  privacy  of  thought.  In  reproductions  of 
whisper  situations,  however,  the  desire  is  to  convey 
the  original  idea  of  privacy  to  an  audience  of  greater 
or  less  extent,  as  the  circumstance  shall  exist,  and  is 
directly  opposed  to  the  original  intention. 

In  the  portrayal  of  situations  which  would  properly 
require  the  use  of  the  Whisper,  convention  has  ruled, 
therefore,  that  the  Semi-Tone  or  Stage  Whisper  shall 
be  used,  because  it  has  a  carrying  power  greater  than 
that  of  a  pure  Whisper,  and  so  can  be  heard  over  a 
larger  area  of  space. 


3O  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Examples. 

Quietness  :  — 

Oth.    It  is  the  cause,  it  is  the  cause,  my  soul : 
Let  me  not  name  it  to  you,  you  chaste  stars  ! 
It  is  the  cause.     Yet  I'll  not  shed  your  blood ; 
Nor  scar  that  whiter  skin  of  hers  than  snow 
And  smooth  as  monumental  alabaster. 
Yet  she  must  die,  else  she'll  betray  more  men. 
Put  out  the  light,  and  then  put  out  the  life : 
If  I  quench  thee,  thou  flaming  minister, 
I  can  again  by  former  light  restore, 
Should  I  repent  me  :  but  once  put  out  thy  light, 
Cunning'st  pattern  of  excelling  nature, 
I  know  not  where  is  that  Promethean  heat, 
That  can  thy  light  relume.    When  I  have  plucked 

thy  rose, 

I  cannot  give  it  vital  growth  again, 
It  needs  must  wither:  I'll  smell  thee  on  the  tree. 
O  balmy  breath  that  dost  almost  persuade 
Justice  to   break   her   sword !      One  more,  one 

more. 

Be  thus  when  thou  art  dead  and  I  will  kill  thee, 
And  love  thee  after.     Once  more,  and  this  the 

last: 

So  sweet  was  ne'er  so  fatal.     I  must  weep, 
But  they  are  cruel  tears  :  this  sorrow's  heavenly  ; 
It  strikes  where  it  doth  love.     She  wakes. 

—  Shakespeare. 

In   the    following    example,  the   third   paragraph, 
which   Boteler  speaks  when  he  catches  sight  of  the 


Modulation  3 1 

victim  for  whose  life  he  and  Aram  are  lying  in  wait, 
contains  the  ideas  of  both  secrecy  and  caution.  He 
whispers  so  that  his  tone  shall  not  betray  the  secret 
of  the  presence  of  the  plotters  and  is,  therefore, 
cautious  that  he  shall  not  be  heard  except  by  the 
person  whom  he  addresses. 

Secrecy  or  Caution  :  — 

Bot.  Thou  triflest :  this  no  hour 

For  the  light  legends  of  a  gossip's  lore  — 

Aram.    Peace,  man  !     I  did  but  question  of  the 

fact. 

Enough.     I  marvel  why  our  victim  lingers. 
Bot.    Hush  !  dost  thou  hear  no  footsteps  ?   Ha, 

he  comes, 

I  see  him  by  yon  pine  tree.     Look,  he  smiles ; 
Smiles  as  he  walks  and  sings  — 

Aram.  Alas  !  poor  fool ! 

So  sport  we  all,  while  over  us  the  pall 
Hangs,  and  Fate's  viewless  hands  prepare  our 
shroud.  —  Lytton. 

Weakness :  — 

King  John.    O  cousin,  thou    art  come   to   set 

mine  eye : 

The  tackle  of  my  heart  is  cracked  and  burned ; 
And  all  the  shrouds,  wherewith  my  life  should 

sail, 

Are  turned  to  one  little  thread,  one  little  hair ; 
My  heart  hath  one  poor  string  to  stay  it  by, 


32  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Which  holds  but  till  thy  news  be  uttered ; 
And  then  all  this  thou  seest  is  but  a  clod, 
And  module  of  confounded  royalty. 

—  Shakespeare. 

Shakespeare  makes  these  the  last  words  of  King 
John,  who  was  dying  of  poison.  It  is  reasonable  to 
assume  that,  the  death  throe  being  on,  the  dying 
man  had  not  sufficient  strength  to  accomplish  sono- 
rous speech. 

Deep  Awe :  — 

Fear   came   upon   me,  and  a    trembling,   which 

made  all  my  bones  to  shake  ; 
Then  a  spirit  passed  before  my  face;    and  the 

hair  of  my  flesh  stood  up ; 
It   stood  still,  but  I  could  not  discern  the  form 

thereof : 
An    image    was    before    mine    eyes,    there  was 

silence,  and  I  heard  a  voice  saying : 
Shall  mortal  man  be  more  just  than  God  ?    Shall 

a  man  be  more  pure  than  his  Maker  ? 

—  Bible. 

Forceful  Whisper  is  used  in  calling  when,  for  any 
reason,  one  wishes  to  avoid  using  the  resonant  prop- 
erty of  the  voice  and  yet  desires  his  words  to  be 
heard  within  certain  prescribed  limits.  It  is  used 
also  in  portraying  great  fear  or  any  other  emotion  so 
violent  that  it  produces  a  paroxysm,  and,  consequently, 
suppresses  vocal  expression. 


Modulation  33 

Examples. 

Calling :  — 

Hush!  silence  along  the  lines  there!  Silence 
along  the  lines  there  !  Not  a  word  —  not  a 
word  on  the  peril  of  your  lives  \-Lippard. 

Great  Fear :  — 

Mar.    Peace,   break   thee  off;    look,  where  it 

comes  again  ! 
Ber.    In  the  same  figure,  like  the  king  that's 

dead. 

Mar.    Thou  art  a  scholar  ;  speak  to  it,  Horatio. 
Ber.    Looks   it   not    like   the    king  ?    mark  it, 

Horatio. 
Hor.    Most  like :    it  harrows  me  with  fear,  and 

wonder. 

Ber.    It  would  be  spoke  to. 
Mar.  Question  it,  Horatio. 

Hor.    What  art  thou,  that  usurp'st  this  time  of 

night, 

Together  with  that  fair  and  warlike  form 
In  which  the  majesty  of  buried  Denmark 
Did  sometimes  march  ?  By  heaven  I  charge  thee, 

speak. 

Mar.    It  is  offended. 

Ber.  See  !  It  stalks  away. 

Hor.    Stay ;  speak ':  I  charge  thee,  speak. 
Mar.    'Tis  gone,  and  will  not  answer. 
Ber.    How  now,  Horatio  ?  you  tremble  and  look 

pale : 

D 


34  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Is  not  this  something  more  than  phantasy  ? 
What  think  you  on  it  ? 

Hor.    Before  my   God,   I   might  not   this  be- 
lieve 

Without  the  sensible  and  true  avouch 
Of  my  own  eyes. 

Mar.  Is  it  not  like  the  king  ? 

Hor.    As  thou  art  to  thyself : 
Such  was  the  very  armor  he  had  on 
When  he  the  ambitious  Norway  combated ; 
So  frowned  he  once,  when,  in  an  angry  parle, 
He  smote  the  sledded  Polack  on  the  ice. 
Tis  strange. 

Mar.    Thus,    twice   before,    and   at  this  dead 
hour, 

With  martial  stalk  hath  he  gone  by  on  our  watch. 

—  Shakespeare. 

The  hour  of  the  night,  the  presence  of  the  ghostly 
Denmark,  the  inherent  dread  of  the  supernatural, 
which  was  particularly  strong  in  the  time  and  in  the 
country  of  which  Shakespeare  wrote  the  history  of 
Hamlet,  together  with  the  knowledge  which  the 
speakers  had  of  the  affairs  of  the  wronged  king,  as 
well  as  of  those  of  his  perfidious  queen,  would,  un- 
doubtedly, conduce  to  a  whispered  conversation, 
which,  however,  would  not  be  the  soft  sibilant  of 
secrecy,  but  rather  the  stronger  one  in  which  the 
voice  is  repressed  involuntarily.  That  portion  of  the 
conversation,  therefore,  which  precedes  Horatio's 
challenge  to  the  apparition,  exemplifies  the  Whisper  : 


Mo  du  la  tion  3  5 

forceful,  because  the  voice    of   the  speaker  was   re- 
strained by  the  sensation  of  fear  of  the  ghost. 

FORCE 

Force  is  the  dynamic  energy  of  the  tone ;  that  is, 
the  volume  with  which  it  is  enunciated.  It  is  possible, 
without  raising  the  pitch,  to  enunciate  with  such 
force  that  the  voice  will  be  heard  distinctly  at  a  dis- 
tance not  absolutely  necessary  for  an  understanding 
of  the  words  spoken.  An  orator  "  fills  the  hall  with 
his  voice,"  not  necessarily  because  he  raises  its  pitch, 
but  because  he  imparts  to  it  a  dynamic  energy  which 
makes  its  sound  carry.  In  other  words,  the  tone 
swells  in  volume  while  not  rising  in  pitch. 

There  are  three  degrees  of  Force  :  Normal,  or 
Moderate,  Energetic  and  Subdued. 

Moderate  Force,  when  associated  with  Normal,  or 
Pure  Tone,  is  used  in  expressing  unimpassioned  state 
of  mind. 

Example. 

Friends,  Romans,  Countrymen,  lend  me  your  ears. 
I  come  to  bury  Caesar ;  not  to  praise  him. 
The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  them ; 
The  good  is  oft  interred  with  their  bones ; 
So  let  it  be  with  Caesar.  —Shakespeare. 

It  must  be  evident  that  had  Antony  used  more 
than  Normal  Force  in  beginning  his  address,  it  would 
have  been  inappropriate  to  the  occasion  of  a  funeral 


36  The  Principles  of  Oral  EnglisJi 

oration  ;  besides,  since  his  purpose  was  first  to  obtain 
the  confidence  of  the  Roman  people  and  then  to 
secure  it  by  later  portions  of  his  utterance,  he  would 
speak  quietly  at  the  beginning  so  that  he  might  im- 
press them  with  a  sense  of  his  putative  impartiality. 

Moderate  Force,  when  associated  with  Orotund 
Quality,  is  used  in  expressing  grandeur,  sublimity 
or  reverence.  The  opening  stanza  of  Hugo  Hutton's 
poem,  "  God  Everywhere,"  expresses  reverence ;  the 
second  stanza  expresses  grandeur  and  sublimity :  — 

Oh !  show  me  where  is  He, 

The  high  and  holy  One, 

To  whom  thou  bend'st  the  knee, 

And  pray'st,  —  "  Thy  will  be  done  !  " 

I  hear  thy  song  of  praise 

And,  lo  !  no  form  is  near  : 

Thine  eyes  I  see  thee  raise, 

But  where  doth  God  appear  ? 

Oh  !  teach  me  who  is  God,  and  where  His  glories  shine, 
That  I  may  kneel  and  pray,  and  call  thy  Father  mine. 

Gaze  on  that  arch  above ; 
The  glittering  vault  admire, 
Who  taught  those  orbs  to  move  ? 
Who  lit  their  ceaseless  fire  ? 
Who  guides  the  moon  to  run 
In  silence  through  the  skies  ? 
Who  bids  that  dawning  sun 
In  strength  and  beauty  rise  ? 


Modulation  37 

There  view  immensity  !  Behold  !  my  God  is  there  ; 
The  sun,  the  moon,  the  stars,  His  majesty  declare. 

Energetic  Force,  by  which  is  meant  any  increase  in 
the  ordinary  volume  of  the  voice,  when  associated 
with  Normal,  or  Pure  Quality,  is  used  in  expressing 
animated  thought  or  feeling. 

Example. 

The  trumpet  sounded  short  and  sharp.  Forth 
from  each  stall,  like  missiles  in  a  volley  from  so 
many  great  guns,  rushed  the  six  fours ;  and  up 
the  vast  assembly  arose,  electrified  and  irrepress- 
ible, and,  leaping  upon  the  benches,  filled  the 
circus  and  the  air  above  it  with  yells  and  screams. 
The  arena  swam  in  a  dazzle  of  light ;  yet  each 
driver  looked  first  for  the  rope,  then  for  the 
inner  line.  All  six  aiming  at  the  same  point  and 
speeding  furiously,  a  collision  seemed  inevitable. 

The  fours  neared  the  rope  together.  Then 
the  trumpeter  by  the  editor's  side  blew  a  signal 
vigorously.  Seeing  the  action,  the  j  udges  dropped 
the  rope;  and  not  an  instant  too  soon,  for  the 
hoof  of  one  of  Messala's  horses  struck  it  as  it 
fell.  Nothing  daunted,  the  Roman  shook  out  his 
long  lash,  loosed  the  reins,  and,  with  a  triumphant 

shout,  took  the  wall Adapted  from  the  Chariot  Race 

in  «  Ben  Hur."  Lew  Wallace. 

Energetic  Force,  when  associated  with  Orotund 
Quality,  is  used  in  expressing  bold  or  lofty  thought 
or  feeling. 


33  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Example. 

He  stretched  his  hand  on  high ;  over  his 
lofty  brow  and  royal  features  there  came  an  ex- 
pression of  unutterable  solemnity  and  command. 

"  Behold  !  "  he  shouted  with  a  voice  of  thunder 
which  stilled  the  voice  of  the  crowd,  "  behold  how 
the  gods  protect  the  guiltless !  The  fires  of  the 
avenging  Orcus  burst  forth  against  the  false 
witness  of  my  accusers!"  —  Lytton. 

Subdued  Force  is  force  less  than  Normal.  It  is 
used  generally  in  association  with  Normal,  or  Pure 
Quality,  to  express  an  idea  of  solemnity,  tranquillity 
or  beauty. 

Example. 

And  the  name  of  that  Isle  is  the  Long  Ago, 
And  we  bury  our  treasures  there ;   • 
There  are  brows  of  beauty  and  bosoms  of  snow  ; 
There  are  heaps  of  dust  —  but  we  loved  them  so! 
There  are  trinkets  and  tresses  of  hair ; 

There  are  fragments  of  songs  that  nobody  sings, 

And  a  part  of  an  infant's  prayer  ; 

There's   a   lute    unswept,    and    a   harp   without 

strings ; 

There  are  broken  vows  and  pieces  of  rings, 
And  the  garments  that  she  used  to  wear. 

There  are  hands  that  are  waved  when  the  fairy 

shore 
By  the  mirage  is  lifted  in  air ; 


Modulation  39 

And  we  sometimes  hear  through  the  turbulent 

roar 

Sweet  voices  we  heard  in  the  days  gone  before, 
When  the  wind  down  the  river  is  fair. 

O,  remember'd  for  aye  be  the  blessed  isle, 
All  the  day  of  our  life  until  night ; 
When  the  evening  comes  with  its  blessed  smile, 
And  our  eyes  are  closing  to  slumber  awhile, 
May  that  Greenwood  of  Soul  be  in  sight. 

—  Benjamin  f.  Taylor. 

PITCH 

Pitch  is  any  variation  of  the  Tone  within  the  range 
of  the  voice.  Each  person  has  a  normal  pitch  which  is 
absolute  in  itself  and  which  is  peculiar  to  that  person, 
and  any  variation  of  that  pitch  within  the  range  of 
his  voice,  as  higher  or  lower,  entirely  without  refer- 
ence or  relation  to  any  other  person's  voice,  is  called 
Pitch. 

There  are  three  recognized  degrees  of  Pitch: 
Normal,  or  Middle ;  Low,  which  is  below  the  Nor- 
mal ;  and  High,  which  is  above  the  Normal. 

Normal,  or  Middle  Pitch,  is  used  in  expressing 
unimpassioned  thought. 

Example. 

A  jury  of  my  countrymen  have  found  me 
guilty  of  the  crime  for  which  I  stood  indicted. 
For  this  I  entertain  not  the  slightest  feeling  of 
resentment  toward  them.  —  Meagher. 


4O  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Low  Pitch  is  used  in  expressing  pathos,  solemnity 
or  devotion. 

Examples. 

Pathos  and  Solemnity  :  — 

The  old  man  held  one  languid  arm  in  his,  and 
had  the  small  hand  tight-folded  to  his  breast  for 
warmth.  It  was  the  hand  she  had  stretched  out 
to  him  with  her  last  smile  —  the  hand  th?,t  had 
led  him  on  through  all  their  wanderings.  Ever 
and  anon  he  pressed  it  to  his  lips ;  then  hugged 
it  to  his  breast  again,  murmuring  that  it  was 
warmer  now ;  and  as  he  said  it  he  looked  in 
agony  to  those  who  stood  around,  as  if  imploring 
them  to  help  her.  —  Dickens. 

Devotion  :  — 

"  I  regret  that  I  have  only  one  life  to  lose  for 
my  country,"  said  Hale ;  and  with  him  and  his 
comrades  self  was  forgotten  in  that  absorbing, 
passionate  patriotism  which  pledges  fortune, 
honor  and  life  to  the  sacred  cause.  —  Depew. 

High  Pitch  is  used  in  shouting,  commanding,  call- 
ing, and  in  expressing  uncontrolled  passion,  and  is 
associated  with  such  quality  as  is  demanded  by  the 
emotion  which  is  being  portrayed. 

Examples. 

Shouting  :  — 

A  horse  !     A  horse  !     My  kingdom  for  a  horse  ! 

—  Shakespeare. 


Modulation  41 


Commanding  :  - 


Charge,  Chester  !     Charge  !    On,  Stanley  !    On  ! 

—  Scott. 

Calling :  — 

Ahoy,  my  lad  !     Where  are   you  ?  —  Fenn. 

Attention  should  be  called  here  to  the  usual  mis- 
take in  reproducing  shouts,  commands  and  calls. 
Pupils,  when  called  on  to  deliver  such  examples  as 
these,  will,  as  a  rule,  throw  out  their  words  in  jerks. 
The  object  in  shouting,  giving  commands,  and  calling 
is  to  cause  the  enunciator  to  be  heard  by  a  number 
of  persons  and  at  a  distance.  In  order  to  accomplish 
this  result  it  is  necessary  to  increase  the  force  of  the 
voice,  to  articulate  distinctly  and  to  dwell  for  more 
than  the  ordinary  length  -of  time  on  the  vowel 
sounds'. 

Uncontrolled  Passion  :  — 

All  this !    Ay,  more :   fret  till  your  proud  heart 

break ; 

Go,  show  your  slaves  how  choleric  you  are, 
And    make   your   bondsmen    tremble.      Must    I 

budge  ? 

Must  I  observe  you  ?     Must  I  stand  and  crouch 
Under  your  testy  humor  ?     By  the  gods, 
You  shall  digest  the  venom  of  your  spleen, 
Though  it  do  split  you  :  for  from  this  day  forth 
I'll  use  you  for  my  mirth,  yea,  for  my  laughter, 
When  you  are  waspish.  —  Shakespeare. 


42  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

RATE 

Rate  measures  the  rapidity  of  the  utterance  of  a 
series  of  vocal  sounds  or  words,  and  its  differentia- 
tions are  expressed  in  terms  of  degree,  as  Normal, 
Rapid  or  Slow. 

Normal,  or  Moderate  Rate,  is  the  speed  at  which 
one  speaks  when  unaffected  by  any  emotion. 

Example. 

"Well,  Davie,  lad,"  said  he,  "I  will  go  with 
you  as  far  as  the  ford,  to  set  you  on  the  way." 

—  Stevenson. 

Rapid  Rate  is  enunciation  faster  than  the  Normal, 
and  is  used  in  expressing  animated  thought  or  feel- 
ing ;  and  if  the  rate  be'  very  rapid,  hurry  or  excite- 
ment, or  a  state  of  ecstasy. 

Examples. 

Excitement :  - 

And  there  was  mounting  in  hot  haste :  the  steed. 
The  mustering  squadron,  and  the  clattering  car, 
Went  pouring  forward  with  impetuous  speed, 
And  swiftly  forming  in  the  ranks  of  war ; 
And  the  deep  thunder,  peal  on  peal,  afar ; 
And  near,  the  beat  of  the  alarming  drum 
Roused  up  the  soldier  ere  the  morning  star: 
While  thronged  the  citizens,  with  terror  dumb, 
Or    whispering,  with    white    lips  —  "  The    Foe  ! 
They  come!     They  come!"  —Lord Byron. 


Modulation  43 

Ecstatic  Anger :  - 

Leah.  The  old  man  who  died  because  I  loved 
you ;  the  woman  who  hungered  because  I  fol- 
lowed you  ;  the  infant  who  died  of  thirst  because 
of  you ;  may  they  follow  you  in  dreams  and  be  a 
drag  upon  your  feet  forever.  May  you  wander 
as  I  wander,  surfer  shame  as  I  now  suffer  it. 
Cursed  be  the  land  you  till;  may  it  keep  faith 
with  you,  as  you  kept  faith  with  me  !  Cursed  be 
the  unborn  fruit  of  thy  marriage !  may  it  wither 
as  my  young  heart  has  withered ;  and  should  it 
ever  see  the  light,  may  its  brows  be  blackened 
by  the  mark  of  Cain,  and  may  it  vainly  pant 
for  nourishment  on  its  dying  mother's  breast ! 
Cursed,  thrice  cursed  may  you  be  evermore,  and 
as  my  people  on  Mount  Ebel  spoke,  so  speak  I 
thrice,  Amen  !  Amen!  Amen! — Daly. 

Slow  Rate  is  enunciation  more  deliberate  than  Nor- 
mal, and  is  used  in  expressing  solemnity,  pathos, 
devotion  or  grandeur ;  and  if  the  rate  is  very  slow, 
profound  reverence,  deep  solemnity  or  horror. 

Examples. 

Profound  Reverence  and  Deep  Solemnity  :  — 
This  is  the  house  of  the   Prince  of  Peace,  and 

would  you  profane  it 
Thus  with  violent  deeds  and  hearts  overflowing 

with  hatred  ? 

.  Lo !  where  the  crucified  Christ  from  His  cross 
is  gazing  upon  you ! 


44  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

See !     In  those  sorrowful  eyes  what  meekness 

and  holy  compassion  ! 
Hark !     How  those  lips  still  repeat  the  prayer, 

"O,  Father,  forgive  them  !  " — Longfellow. 

Horror :  — 

Macb.    Methought  I  heard  a  voice  cry  "  Sleep 

no  more ! 
Macbeth    does    murder    sleep,"    —  the    innocent 

sleep, 

Sleep,  that  knits  up  the  raveled  sleave  of  care, 
The  death  of  each  day's  life,  sore  labor's  bath, 
•  Balm  of  hurt  minds,  great  nature's  second  course, 
Chief  nourisher  in  life's  feast;  — 

Lady  M.  What  do  you  mean  ? 

Macb.    Still  it  cried,  "  Sleep  no  more !  to  all 

the  house : 
Glamis    hath    murdered    sleep ;    and    therefore 

Cawdor 
Shall  sleep   no   more :    Macbeth   shall  sleep  no 

more !  " 
Lady  M.     Who  was  it  that  thus  cried  ?     Why, 

worthy  thane, 

You  do  unbend  your  noble  strength  to  think 
So  brain-sickly  of  things.     Go  get  some  water, 
And  wash  this  filthy  witness  from  your  hand. 
Why  did  you  bring  these  daggers  from  the  place  ? 
They  must  lie  there  :  go,  carry  them ;  and  smear 
The  sleeping  grooms  with  blood. 

Macb.  I'll  go  no  more  : 


Modulation  45 

I  am  afraid  to  think  what  I  have  done ; 
Look  on't  again,  I  dare  not. 

Lady  M.  Infirm  of  purpose  ! 

Give  me  the  daggers  !  the  sleeping  and  the  dead 
Are  but  as  pictures :  'tis  the  eye  of  childhood, 
That  fears  a  painted  devil.     If  he  do  bleed, 
I'll  gild  the  faces  of  the  grooms  withal, 
For  it  must  seem  their  guilt. 

Macb.  Whence  is  that  knocking  ? 

How   is't   with    me,   when    every  noise   appalls 

me? 
What  hands  are  here  ?    Ha  !  they  pluck  out  mine 

eyes! 

Will  all  great  Neptune's  ocean  wash  this  blood 
Clean  from  my  hand  ?     No ;  this  my  hand  will 

rather 

The  multitudinous  seas  incarnardine, 
Making  the  green  —  one  red. — Shakespeare. 

It  is  obvious  that  in  a  work  of  this  kind  only  a 
minor  portion  of  the  modulations  of  the  human  voice 
can  be  mentioned  in  terms.  The  voice  is  capable  of 
an  infinite  number  of  changes,  as  it  must  be  to  express 
all  the  degrees  of  emotion  of  which  the  human  mind 
is  capable,  and  it  is  impossible  to  note  each  one. 
The  principal  modulations  have  been  given,  however, 
and  the  student  can,  by  putting  into  practice  the  les- 
sons to  be  learned  from  the  application  of  the  prin- 
ciples exemplified,  express  all  the  modifications  of  all 
the  emotions  peculiar  to  man. 


46  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

INFLECTIONS 

Other  movements  of  the  voice  which  are  included 
in  the  general  subject  of  Pitch  are :  the  Bend,  the 
Falls,  Perfect  and  Partial ;  the  Sweeps,  Accentual, 
Emphatic  and  Perfect;  and  the  Slides,  Ascending 
and  Descending. 

The  Bend  is  a  slight  upward  inflection  of  the  voice. 
It  precedes  a  pause  of  imperfect  sense  and  indicates 
uncompleted  expression  of  a  thought.  Although  it  is 
that  movement  of  the  voice  which  occurs  usually  at  a 
comma,  it  is  used  also  where  no  punctuation  can  be 
placed  properly,  but  where  an  upward  turn  of  the 
voice  is  necessary  to  grammatical  expression  of  the 
thought  which  the  speaker  wishes  to  convey.  It  is 
indicated  in  the  following  example  by  the  acute  accent. 

Example. 

I  cannot  leave  this  life  and  character'  with- 
out selecting'  and  dwelling  on  one  or  two  of  his 
traits',  or  virtues',  or  felicities'  a  little  longer. 

—  Rnfus  Choate. 

The  abuse  of  the  bend  is  its  use  at  pauses  of  per- 
fect sense.  This  produces  the  effect  known  as  the 
"  holy  tone."  It  is  a  violation  of  grammatical  con- 
struction, since  it  indicates  that  the  sense  is  incomplete 
when  it  is  really  complete. 

Falls  are  slight  downward  inflections  of  the  voice. 

The  Perfect  Fall  occurs  at  a  pause  of  perfect  sense 
and  indicates  completed  expression  of  thought.  In 


Modulation  47 

the  following  example  it   is   indicated  by  the  grave 
accent. 

Example. 

Chance  is  written  on  every  battlefield.'  Dis- 
cerned less  in  the  conflict  of  large  masses  than 
in  that  of  individuals,  it  is  equally  present  in 
both.'  —  Charles  Stunner. 

The  Partial  Fall  is  less  decided  than  the  Perfect 
Fall.  It  is  used  to  separate  expressions  of  complete 
though  related  thoughts ;  as  at  the  ends  of  members 
of  a  compound  sentence.  In  the  following  example 
it  is  indicated  by  a  perpendicular  line. 

Example. 

But  the  great  issue  was  clearly  drawn  ; '  his 
whole  being  was  stirred  to  its  depths ;  '  he  was  in 
the  bloom  of  youth,  the  pride  of  strength  ;  '  history 
and  reason,  the  human  heart  and  the  human  con- 
science, were  his  immortal  allies  ; '  and  around  him 
were  the  vast,  increasing  hosts  of  liberty ;  the 
men  whose  counsels  he  approved  ;  the  friends  of 
his  heart ;  the  multitude  that  thought  him  only 
too  eager  for- unquestionable  right;  the  prayer 
of  free  men  and  women,  sustaining,  inspiring, 
blessing  him.  —  George  William  Citrtis. 

SWEEPS 
* 
Sweeps  are  gradual  and  undulating  movements  of 

the  voice  by  which  it  varies  from  a  monotone.     They 


48  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

are  used  in  placing  stress  upon  words  and  accent 
upon  syllables. 

Stress  is  an  added  degree  of  vocal  force  applied  to 
a  word  to  which  a  speaker  desires  to  attract  particular 
attention.  Accent  is  an  added  degree  of  vocal  force 
applied  to  one  syllable  of  a  polysyllabic  word.  There 
is  a  normal  tendency  when  adding  force  to  raise  the 
pitch  at  the  same  time.  That  rise  in  the  pitch  which 
precedes  added  force,  together  with  the  fall  to  the 
normal  after  the  force  has  been  given,  is  a  sweep. 

Sweeps  are  of  three  kinds :  Emphatic,  Accentual 
and  Perfect,  each  of  which  is  separated  into  First  and 
Second  Parts. 

Emphatic  Sweeps,  First  and  Second,  are  those 
fluctuations  of  the  tone  within  the  range  of  the  voice 
by  which  it  moves  up  and  down  the  scale  in  the  deliv- 
ery of  an  expression,  whether  that  expression  be  a 
sentence  or  a  part  of  a  sentence. 

The  First  Emphatic  Sweep  is  that  movement  of  the 
tone  which  leads  it  generally  upward  in  the  scale  to 
the  word  upon  which  the  stress  is  to  be  placed. 

The  Second  Emphatic  Sweep  .begins  immediately 
after  the  word  upon  which  stress  is  placed,  and  leads 
generally  downward  to  a  point  below  the  normal 
pitch,  whence  the  tone  rises  to  the  first  pause  of 
imperfect  sense. 

The  First  Emphatic  Sweep  begins  at  a  pause  of 
perfect  or  imperfect  sense. 

The  Second  Emphatic  Sweep  ends  at  a  pause  of 
imperfect  or  incomplete  sense. 


Modulation  49 

The  inflection  of  the  voice  at  the  termination  of 
the  Second  Emphatic  Sweep  is  the  same  as  that  used 
in  the  Bend,  and  serves  the  same  purpose. 

Examples. 

^  3"  riOt"  frnftw  a   lyifln-iM-^frg^wnrlTTfofco.  rnnOflt 

get  rid  pf  hi?  vrffr  if  he  tries  to  do  so.     I  can 
put  him  in  the  way  to  do  it  at  once  —  Seward. 

-Thr  right  1™  tnTf^Tfn^mind^mpliV'i  the  right 
to  take  a  thousand,  —jatnts  Otis. 

Accentual  Sweeps  are  used  on  single  words  only. 
They  are  the  same  movements  of  the  voice  which 
occur  in  Emphatic  Sweeps  and  are  due  to  the  placing 
of  accent  upon  a  syllable  of  a  word. 

The  First  Accentual  Sweep  ends  with  the  enuncia- 
tion of  the  accented  syllable. 

The  Second  Accentual  Sweep  begins  where  the 
First  Accentual  Sweep  ends. 

Example. 


The  Perfect  Sweep  is  the  continuous  recurrence  of 
the  First  and  Second  Emphatic  Sweeps  at  equal  or 
nearly  equal  intervals  throughout  a  sentence  or  a  part 
of  a  sentence. 


50  The  Principles  of  Oral  EnglisJi 

While  the  Perfect  Sweep  is  best  exemplified  by  the 
scansion  of  poetry,  it  must  not  be  thought  that  it 
does  not  occur  in  prose.  It  does  occur  in  certain 
forms  of  prose  sentences  giving  to  them  musical,  flow- 
ing movement.  It  is  also  the  characteristic  movement 
of  the  voice  in  portraying  derision,  irony,  mockery, 
raillery,  ridicule,  sarcasm  and  satire,  whatever  the 
form  of  the  sentence  may  be. 

Examples. 

U^o^w^^n^^ 

4h£jMtlTthe  castle  was  of  small  account;  the  foe 
would  come  and  camp  about  the  walls,  would 
prevent  the  defenders  from  reaching  a  spring, 
and  then  it  was  only  a  question  of  time  when 

they  would  faint  for  thirst  and  open  their  gates. 

—  Robert  Collier. 
Irony :  — 

-te-Jhe^genft&oao^teffe?  Is  he  completely 
done  ?  He  was  unparliamentary  from  the  be- 
ginning to  the  end  of  his  speech.  —  Gratton. 

SLIDES 

Slides  are  those  inflections  of  the  tone  by  which  it 
passes  through  various  degrees  of  pitch,  ascending  or 


Modulation  5 1 

descending  with  perfect  directness,  (that  is,  undevi- 
ated  by  any  other  form  of  modulation)  except  when 
influenced  by  accent. 

Slides  are  of  two  kinds :  Ascending  and  De- 
scending. 

The  Ascending  Slide  is  that  inflection  by  which 
the  voice  is  carried,  in  the  manner  indicated  in  the 
general  definition  of  Slides,  upward  in  the  scale.  It 
may  begin  at  Normal,  or  Middle  Pitch,  or  at  any 
point  above  or  below  it.  Conceiving  the  dotted  line 
to  indicate  the  Normal  Pitch,  an  Ascending  Slide 
would  run  thus  :  — 

\       —Dibdin. 


Normal  Pitch. 


^ 


The  Ascending  Slide  is  a  prolongation  of  that  in- 
flection of  the  voice  which  occurs  in  the  Bend.  The 
Bend,  however,  occurs  on  a  single  syllable  only, 
whereas  the  Slide  passes  through  a  number  of  syl- 
lables or  words. 

The  Descending  Slide  is  that  inflection  by  which 
the  voice  is  carried,  in  the  manner  indicated  in  the 
general  definition  of  Slides,  downward  in  the  scale. 


52  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

It  may  begin  at  Normal,  or  Middle  Pitch,  or  at  any 
point  above  or  below  it.  Conceiving  the  dotted  line 
to  indicate  the  Normal  Pitch,  the  Descending  Slide 
would  run  thus  :  — 


Normal  Pitch 


v> 

—  Morton. 

The  Descending  Slide  is  a  prolongation  of  that  in- 
flection of  the  voice  which  occurs  in  a  Perfect  Fall. 
The  Perfect  Fall,  however,  occurs  on  a  single  syl- 
lable only,  whereas  the  Descending  Slide  passes 
through  a  number  of  words  or  syllables.  In  a  de- 
clarative sentence  ending  with  a  Descending  Slide, 
the  completed  thought  is  indicated  by  that  Slide,  as 
it  is  by  a  Perfect  Fall.  The  Descending  Slide,  there- 
fore, includes  the  Perfect  Fall. 

EXCEPTIONS 

Exception  i.  —  When  an  expression  begins  with  an 
emphatic  word  of  one  syllable,  or  with  an  emphatic 
word  of  more  than  one  syllable  which  has  the  accent 
on  the  first  syllable,  the  First  Emphatic  Sweep  is 
omitted  because  there  is  no  place  in  which  to  develop 
it.  The  sentence  is  begun,  therefore,  at  the  point 
which  the  voice  would  have  reached  had  the  First 


Modulation  53 

Emphatic  Sweep  been  used.     The  Second  Emphatic 
Sweep  follows  as  in  any  other  expression. 

Examples. 

One  Syllable:  — 

When  this  debate,  sir,  was  to  be  resumed  on 
Thursday  morning,  it  so  happened  that  it  would 
have  been  convenient  for  me  to  be  elsewhere. 
The  honorable  member,  however,  did  not  incline 
to  put  off  the  discussion  to  another  day.  Pie 
had  a  shot,  he  said,  to  return,  and  he  wished  to 
discharge  it.  That  shot,  sir,  which  he  thus 
kindly  informed  us  was  coming,  that  we  might 
stand  out  of  the  way  or  prepare  ourselves  to  fall 
by  it  and  die  with  decency,  has  now  been 
received.  —  Webster. 

More  than  One  Syllable  :  — 

Chivalry  delighted  in  outward  show,  favored 
pleasure,  multiplied  amusement,  and  degraded 
the  human  race  by  an  exclusive  respect  for  the 
privileged  classes ;  /writanism  bridled  the  pas- 
sions, commanded  the  virtues  of  self-denial,  and 
rescued  the  name  of  man  from  dishonor. 

—  Bancroft. 

Exception  2.  —  When  unusually  strong  stress  is 
placed  upon  a  word,  the  tendency  is  to  change  the 
Second  Emphatic  Sweep  to  the  Descending  Slide, 
which  continues  to  the  first  pause.  When  the  stress 
is  strong  enough,  the  pause  which  would  follow  the 


54  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

stress  normally  is  omitted,  and  the  Descending  Slide 
is  continued  to  a  later  point. 

Example. 

Three  millions  of  people,  armed  in  the  holy 
cause  of  liberty  and  in  such  a  country  as  that 
which  we  possess,  are  invmubk,  LO  aii)»  IOKJO 


mir  on^my  r^n   ffpnd  against  US. 

—  Patrick  Henry. 

The  Second  Emphatic  Sweep  is  replaced  here  by 
the  Descending  Slide  because  of  the  unusual  stress 
which  is  placed  on  the  word  invincible. 

Exception  3.  —  When  an  interpolation  immediately 
follows  the  emphatic  word  in  a  sentence,  it  takes  a 
full  development  of  the  Second  Emphatic  Sweep, 
regardless  of  the  pause  which  occurs  between  it  and 
the  emphatic  word. 

Examples. 

1.  In   the  meantime,  Sir,  and    until   that  history 

shall  be  written,  I  propose,  with  the  feeble 
and  glimmering  lights  which  I  possess,  to 
review  the  conduct  of  this  party  in  connec- 
tion with  the  war  and  the  events  which  im- 
mediately preceded  it.  —  Hayne. 

2.  This  was,  /;/  my  opinion,  the  effect  of  the  trien- 

nial law,  and  will  again  be  the  effect  if  it 
should  ever  be  restored.  —  Walpole. 


Modulation  5  5 

Exception  4.  —  When  the  emphatic  word  is  the  last 
word  in  a  sentence  and  consists  of  only  one  syllable, 
or  has  the  accent  on  the  last  syllable,  the  Second 
Emphatic  Sweep  is  replaced  by  that  Fall,  Partial  or 
Perfect  which  it  would  take  otherwise  under  the 
rules  formulated  in  this  chapter.  When  it  consists 
of  more  than  one  syllable  and  has  the  accent  on  any 
syllable  except  the  last,  or  when  more  than  one  word 
or  syllable  intervenes  between  the  emphatic  word  or 
syllable  and  the  end  of  the  sentence,  the  Second 
Emphatic  Sweep  is  replaced  by  the  Descending 
Slide. 

Examples. 

1.  I   call  upon  the   honor  of   your  Lordships  to 

reverence  the  dignity  of  your  ancestors  and 
to  maintain  your  own.  —  Chatham. 

2.  He  trod  the  winepress  alone. 

3.  The  cold  Grenville,  the  brilliant  Townsend,  the 

reckless  Hillsborough  derided,  declaimed,  de- 
nounced, laid  unjust  taxes,  and  sent  troops  to 
collect  them  ;  and  the  plain  Boston  Puritan 
laid  his  finger  on  the  vital  point  of  the  con- 
troversy and  held  to  it  in^rorably. 

—  George  William  Curtis. 

Exception  5.  —  When  in  an  expression  delivered  with 
the  Ascending  Slide,  stress  is  placed  upon  a  word, 
the  dip  of  the  voice  necessary  to  make  the  stress 
breaks  the  continuity  of  the  Slide,  which  is,  however, 
resumed  immediately. 


56  TJic  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Examples. 

1.  Some  have  sneeringly  asked,  "  Are  the  Ameri- 

cans too  poor  to  pay  a  few  pounds  on  stamped 
paper?"  -  Otis. 

2.  Have  we  found  angels  in  the  form  of  kings  to 

govern  him  ?  —  Pinckney. 

3.  Is  it  denied  that  those  states  possess  a  republi- 

can form  of  government  ?  —  Pinckney. 

Exception  6.  —  When  in  an  expression  delivered 
with  the  Descending  Slide  stress  is  placed  upon  a 
word,  the  First  Emphatic  Sweep  interrupts  the  Slide, 
after  which  the  Slide  resumes  its  progress  and  con- 
tinues to  the  end  of  the  expression. 

Examples. 

1.  What  inducements,  what   temptations  can  they 

have  ?  —  Hamilton. 

2.  Had  the   Declaration  announced  that  the  ne- 

groes were  free  and  equal,  how  was  the 
prince  to  be  arraigned  for  stirring  up  insur- 
rection among  them  ?  — Jefferson  Davis. 


CHAPTER   IV 
THE  APPLICATION   OF  VOCAL  INFLECTION 

THE  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  show  how  the 
inflections  of  the  voice,  which  have  been  denned  and 
illustrated  in  the  chapter  on  Modulation,  are  applied 
in  general  delivery.  All  sentences  in  the  English 
language  can  be  classified  according  to  grammatical 
form,  and  there  is  a  definite  law  which  governs  the 
vocal  delivery  of  each  class.  These  laws  have  been 
deduced  from  customary  usage  in  oratory,  reading 
and  ordinary  conversation,  and  each  law  applies 
equally  to  all  the  phases  included  in  the  three  classes 
of  delivery. 

According  to  grammatical  structure  there  are 
three  classes  of  sentences :  Simple,  Complex  and 
Compound.  Each  of  these  may  be  declarative,  inter- 
rogative, imperative  or  exclamatory.  The  declara- 
tive will  be  treated  first. 

THE  SIMPLE  SENTENCE 

Definition. — A  Simple  Sentence  is  a  single  propo- 
sition which  has  only  one  grammatical  subject  and 
one  grammatical  predicate.  It  may  also  have  an 
attribute  or  an  object,  and  any  or  all  of  these  gram- 

57 


58  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

matical  parts  may  be  compound,  and  may  be  modified 
by  one  or  more  words  or  phrases. 

Examples. 

1.  Jesus  wept.  —  Bible. 

2.  The  principle  is  plain,  rational  and  consistent. 

—  Macaulay. 

3.  The  sun  was    pouring   down   a   yellow  autum- 

nal ray  into  the  square  of  the  cloisters,  beam- 
ing upon  a  scanty  plot  of  grass  in  the  center, 
and  lighting  up  an  angle  of  the  vaulted 
passage  with  a  kind  of  dusky  splendor. 

—  Irving. 

These  examples,  which  illustrate  various  forms  of 
the  simple  declarative  sentence,  prove  that  no  simple 
sentence  can  be  separated  into  parts  which  are  com- 
plete in  themselves,  and  that  in  such  sentences  the 
expression  of  the  thought  is  not  complete  until  the 
last  word  of  the  sentence  is  spoken. 

The  application  of  the  laws  governing  the  Sweeps, 
those  inflections  which  precede  and  follow  stress  ;  the 
Bend,  which  always  indicates  that  the  expression  is 
not  complete  and  that  something  is  about  to  be 
added ;  and  the  Perfect  Fall,  which  always  indicates 
the  conclusion  of  a  declarative  sentence,  develops 
the  following  rule  for  the  delivery  of  the  Simple 
Sentence : — 

Rule  for  Delivery.  —  The  Simple  Sentence  is  deliv- 
ered with  the  emphatic  sweeps  up  to  and  after  the 


The  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  59 

words  upon  which  stress  is  placed,  the  bend  at  the 
pauses  of  imperfect  sense,  and  the  perfect  fall  at 
the  end. 

THE  COMPLEX  SENTENCE 

A  Complex  Sentence  is  one  which  contains  one 
principal  clause  and  one  or  more  subordinate 
clauses. 

Examples. 

1.  To  give  a  satisfactory  answer  to  this  mighty 

question,  it  is  indispensable  to  have  an  accu- 
rate and  thorough  knowledge  of  the  nature 
and  the  character  of  the  cause  by  which  the 
Union  is  endangered.  —  Calhoun. 

2.  This  African  slave  system  is  one  which,  in  its 

origin  and  its  growth,  has  been  altogether 
foreign  to  the  habits  of  the  races  which 
colonized  these  states  and  established  civili- 
zation here.  —  Seward. 

3.  Here  was  Fanny,  proud,  fitful,  whimsical,  fur- 

ther advanced  in  that  disqualified  state  for 
going  into  society  which  had  so  much  fretted 
her  on  the  evening  of  the  tortoise-shell  night, 
resolved  always  to  want  comfort,  resolved 
not  to  be  comforted,  resolved  to  be  deeply 
wronged,  and  resolved  that  nobody  should 
have  the  audacity  to  think  her  so.  —  Dickens. 

4.  As   for    the    sweetness   of   labor   and   fulfilled 

claims ;  the  interest  of   inward  and  outward 


60  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

activity ;  the  impersonal  delights  of  life  as 
a  perpetual  discovery ;  the  dews  of  courage, 
fortitude,  industry,  which  it  is  mere  baseness 
not  to  pay  toward  the  common  burden ;  the 
supreme  worth  of  the  teacher's  vocation ; 
these,  even  if  they  had  been  eloquently 
preached  to  her,  could  have  been  no  more 
than  faintly  apprehended  doctrines.  — Eliot. 

5.  When  my  father  and  my  mother  forsake  me, 

then  the  Lord  will  take  me  up.  —  Bible. 

6.  When  the  mariner  has  been  tossed  for  many 

days  in  thick  weather,  and  on  an  unknown 
sea,  (then)  he  naturally  avails  himself  of  the 
first  pause  in  the  storm,  the  earliest  glance 
at  the  sun,  to  take  his  latitude  and  ascertain 
how  far  the  elements  have  driven  him  from 
his  course.  —  Webster. 

7.  Sir,  if    I   did   not   consider   both  these  causes 

involved  in  the  proposition  which  I  have  this 
day  to  make  known  to  you,  (then)  I  should 
not  address  the  House,  as  I  do  now,  in  the 
full  and  entire  confidence  that  the  gracious 
communication  of  His  Majesty  will  be  met 
by  the  House  with  the  concurrence  of  which 
His  Majesty  has  declared  his  expectation. 

—  Canning. 

8.  And  as  the  faint  light  of  his  course  pierced  into 

the  dwellings  of  men  (then)  it  fell,  as  now, 
on  the  rosy  warmth  of  nestling  children  ;  on 


The  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  61 

the  haggard  waking  of  sorrow  and  sickness ; 
on  the  hasty  uprising  of  the  hard-handed 
laborer;  and  on  the  late  sleep  of  the  night 
student,  who  had  been  questioning  the  stars 
or  the  sages,  or  his  own  soul,  for  that  hidden 
knowledge  which  would  break  through  the 
barrier  of  man's  brief  life,  and  show  its 
dark  path  that  seems  to  bend  now  hither, 
to  be  an  arc  in  an  immeasurable  light  ,and 
glory.  —  Eliot. 

9.  I  will  not  harm  thee,  thou  small  thing ;  for  in 
the  proud  consciousness  of  right  I  could  even 
pity  thee.  —  Pericles. 

In  Complex  Sentences,  as  in  simple  sentences,  the 
expression  of  the  thought  is  never  completed  until 
the  last  word  of  the  sentence  has  been  uttered, 
because  the  subordinate  clauses  are  so  closely  asso- 
ciated with  the  independent  clauses  that  neither  can 
stand  alone  and  permit  full  expression  of  the  thought. 
The  relation  between  the  independent  and  the  sub- 
ordinate clauses  must,  therefore,  be  indicated  by  in- 
flection. Since  the  bend  is  the  only  inflection  which 
can  be  used  to  indicate  an  expression  of  thought 
which  has  not  yet  been  completed,  the  rule  for  in- 
flection which  governs  the  delivery  of  the  simple 
sentence  applies  also  to  the  clauses  of  the  complex 
sentence. 

Examples  Nos.  5,  6,  7,  8  and  9  differ  slightly  in 
construction  from  examples  Nos.  I,  2,  3  and  4,  in 


62  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

that  their  members  are  introduced  by  correlative 
words,  expressed  or  understood.  Example  No.  9 
differs  from  the  others  in  that  it  opens  with  a  nega- 
tive statement  arid  does  not  contain  correlative  words. 
In  examples  Nos.  5,  6,  7,  8  and  9  the  stress  falls  at 
nearly  equal  intervals  in  the  opening  clause  of  each 
—  that  is,  the  opening  clause  lends  itself  to  rhythmi- 
cal delivery.  This  is  true  of  all  sentences  of  similar 
construction. 

All  complex  sentences  in  the  English  language 
can  be  classified  under  one  or  other  of  the  three 
forms  given  in  these  examples.  For  purposes  of 
delivery,  therefore,  three  forms  of  the  complex  sen- 
tence are  recognized  —  those  in  which  the  first  clause 
is  positive  in  character,  those  in  which  the  first  clause 
is  negative  in  character,  and  those  whose  clauses  are 
introduced  by  correlative  words,  expressed  or  under- 
stood. 

Rule  for  Delivery. — The  complex  sentence  is  de- 
livered with  the  emphatic  sweeps  up  to  and  after 
the  words  upon  which  stress  is  placed,  the  bend  at  the 
pauses  of  imperfect  sense  and  the  perfect  fall  at  the 
end.  When  the  first  member  of  a  complex  sentence 
is  negative  in  character,  or  when  the  members  are 
introduced  by  correlative  words,  either  expressed  or 
understood,  the  stress  in  the  first  member  occurs 
at  equal  or  nearly  equal  intervals,  and  the  conse- 
quent frequent  and  regular  recurrence  of  the  em- 
phatic sweep  produces  in  this  member  the  Perfect 
Sweep. 


T/ie  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  63 

THE  COMPOUND  SENTENCE 

A  Compound  Sentence  is  a  number  of  proposi- 
tions, or  sentences,  each  independent  of  the  others, 
but  all  so  closely  related  in  thought  that  they  are 
grouped  together  so  as  to  make  what  is  called  one 
sentence.  Each  of  these  independent  propositions 
we  call  a  member. 

Since  each  member  is  a  complete  and  independent 
sentence  in  itself,  it  must  be  either  simple,  complex 
or  compound.  It  follows,  then,  that  a  compound 
declarative  sentence  may  include  all  forms  of  the 
declarative  sentence ;  one  member  may  be  simple, 
one  complex  and  one  compound,  or  the  entire  sen- 
tence may  be  made  up  of  any  combination  of  these 
varieties. 

The  study  of  the  Compound  Sentence,  except  one 
that  begins  with  a  negative  statement,  leads  us  into 
no  new  fields  of  delivery ;  for  this  reason  no  effort  is 
made  to  illustrate  all  possible  forms  of  the  Com- 
pound Sentence.  The  examples  which  are  given 
here  are  sufficient  to  guide  the  student  to  proper 
delivery  of  every  form  of  Compound  Sentence. 

Examples. 

1.  The  robe  draws  round  him  and  the  era  is  past. 

—  C ho  ate. 

2.  The  conquering  Latin  was  moved  by  his  pas- 

sions ;  his  public  speakers  sacrificed  grace  to 
force,  but  gained  in  grandeur  what  they  lost 
in  polish.  —  Lee. 


64  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

3.  Send  them  your  commissioners  at  once ;  sustain 

them  with  your  energy ;  let  them  leave  this 
evening,  this  very  night ;  let  them  say  to  the 
wealthy  class :  "  The  aristocracy  of  Europe, 
succumbing  to  our  influence,  must  pay  our 
debt,  or  you  must  pay  it;  the  people  have 
only  their  blood;  they  lavish  it."-  —  Danton. 

4.  If  the  American  spirit  is  to  be  depended  upon, 

I  call  him  to  awake  to  see  how  his  Ameri- 
cans have  been  disgraced ;  but  I  have  no 
hope  that  things  will  be  better  hereafter. 

—  Randolph. 

In  the  first  of  the  foregoing  examples  both  mem- 
bers are  simple ;  in  the  second,  the  first  member  is 
simple,  the  second  member,  complex ;  in  the  third, 
the  first  three  members  are  simple,  the  fourth  one  is 
compound ;  in  the  fourth,  the  first  member,  the  parts 
of  which  are  introduced  by  correlative  words  ex- 
pressed in  one  instance  and  understood  in  the  other, 
is  complex. 

There  is  a  form  of  the  Compound  Sentence  com- 
posed of  two  complex  members,  the  principal  clause 
of  the  first  member  of  which  is  a  negative  statement. 
The  subordinate  clause  of  the  first  member  always 
begins  with  "for"  or  "because,"  expressed  or  under- 
stood, and  gives  a  reason  for  the  negative  statement. 
The  principal  clause  of  the  second  member  begins 
with  "but"  or  "therefore,"  expressed  or  understood, 
and  is  an  affirmative  statement  in  opposition  to  the 


The  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  65 

principal  clause  of  the  first  member.  The  subordi- 
nate clause  of  the  second  member  begins  with  "for" 
or  "because,"  expressed  or  understood,  and  gives  a 
reason  for  the  affirmative  statement. 

Examples. 

1.  Henceforth    I    call  you   not   servants,  for   the 

servant  knoweth  not  what  his  lord  doeth ; 
but  I  have  called  you  friends,  for  all  things 
I  have  heard  of  my  Father  I  have  made 
known  unto  you.  —  Bible. 

2.  We  are  not  trying  to  give  an  improper  advan- 

tage to  the  poor  man  because  he  is  poor ; 
to  the  man  of  small  means  because  he  has 
not  larger  means,  for  that  is  not  in  accord- 
ance with  the  spirit  of  this  government ;  but 
we  are  striving  to  see  that  the  man  of  small 
means  has  exactly  as  good  a  chance,  so  far 
as  we  can  obtain  it  for  him,  as  the  man  of 
larger  means  —  that  there  shall  be  equality 
of  opportunity  for  the  one  as  for  the  other, 
because  that  is  the  principle  upon  which  our 
government  is  founded. — Roosevelt. 

3.  A  college  course  does  not  insure  success  to  any 

man,  for  success  is  not  dependent  upon  edu- 
cation alone ;  but  it  does  improve  a  man's 
chances  for  success,  for  it  tends  to  fit  him  to 
take  advantage  of  life's  opportunities. 

—James  B.  Dill 
F 


66  The  Principles  of  Oral  Englisli 

The  foregoing  are  the  only  examples  of  this  kind 
of  sentence  in  its  complete  form  which  we  have  been 
able  to  identify  with  their  authors. 

The  value  of  this  class  of  sentence  lies  in  the  em- 
phasis that  is  obtained  by  the  antithesis  expressed 
in  the  two  principal  clauses.  For  this  reason  it  is 
frequently  used,  but  in  an  abbreviated  form. 

When  a  statement  has  been  made,  under  ordinary 
circumstances  the  mind  of  listener  or  reader  passes 
naturally  to  the  reason  for  it.  Hence  the  two  princi- 
pal clauses  are  most  commonly  used,  the  supplying  of 
the  subordinate  clauses  being  left  to  the  intelligence 
of  the  reader  or  listener.  The  antithetical  clauses 
being  thus  brought  more  closely  together,  the  em- 
phasis which  is  the  object  of  this  form  of  sentence 
is  the  more  marked. 

Examples.     (Antithetical  members  only.) 

1.  I  confess  this  construction  is  not  natural;  but 

the  ambiguity  of  the  expression  lays  a  good 
ground  for  the  quarrel.  —  Henry. 

2.  We  want   not   courage ;    (but)   it   is   discipline 

alone  in  which  we  are  exceeded  by  the  most 
formidable  troops  that  ever  trod  the  earth. 

—  Hancock. 

3.  I  have  no  fear  on  this  subject;  (but)  Congress 

must  regulate  so  as  to  suit  every  state. 

—  Randolph. 

4.  It  can  derive  no  advantage  from  such  an  event ; 

but,  on  the  contrary,  it  would  lose  an  indis- 


TJie  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  67 

pensable  support,  a  necessary  aid  in  execut- 
ing the  laws  and  conveying  the  influence  of 
the  government  to  the  doors  of  the  people. 

—  Hamilton* 

It  occurs  sometimes,  but  with  less  frequency,  that 
the  principal  clause  of  the  second  member  is  followed 
by  a  subordinate  clause. 

Examples. 

1.  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  earth, 

where  moth  and  rust  corrupt,  and  where 
thieves  break  through  and  steal ;  but  lay  up 
for  yourselves  treasures  in  heaven,  where 
neither  moth  nor  rust  corrupt,  and  where 
thieves  do  not  break  through  and  steal ;  for 
where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart 
be  also.  —  Bible. 

2.  Let  not  the  history  of  the  illustrious  House  of 

Brunswick  inform  posterity  that  a  king,  de- 
scended from  that  glorious  monarch,  George 
II,  once  sent  his  British  subjects  to  conquer 
and  enslave  his  subjects  in  America ;  but  be 
perpetual  infamy  entailed  upon  that  villain 
who  dared  to  advise  his  master  to  such  exe- 
crable measures  ;  for  it  was  easy  to  foresee  the 
consequences  which  so  naturally  followed 
upon  sending  troops  into  America  to  enforce 
obedience  to  acts  of  the  British  Parliament, 
which  neither  God  nor  man  ever  empowered 
them  to  make.  —  Hancock. 


68  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

It  frequently  happens  that  an  expression  of  the 
kind  under  discussion  is  not  easily  recognized,  for  the 
reason  that  incorrect  punctuation  has  made  it  obscure. 
It  is  not  the  intention  of  the  authors  to  take  up  the 
subject  of  punctuation ;  but,  since  obscuration  in  the 
manner  mentioned  is  met  so  often,  it  is  not  imperti- 
nent to  refer  to  it  in  this  connection.  The  following 
example,  notwithstanding  the  punctuation,  is  a  com- 
pound sentence,  containing  three  negative  statements 
and  one  affirmative  statement  in  opposition  to 
them. 

Example. 

I  know  not  what  discoveries,  what  inventions, 
what  thoughts,  may  leap  from  the  brain  of  the 
world.  I  know  not  what  garments  of  glory  may 
be  woven  by  the  years  to  come.  I  cannot  dream 
of  the  victories  to  be  won  upon  the  fields  of 
thought ;  but  I  do  know  that  coming  from  the 
infinite  sea  of  the  future,  there  will  never  touch 
this  bank  and  shoal  of  time  a  richer  gift,  a  rarer 
blessing  than  liberty  for  man,  for  woman,  and 
for  child.  —  Ingersott. 

Correct  punctuation  would  replace  the  first  two 
periods  with  semicolons. 

A  large  measure  of  the  force  of  this  passage  is 
lost  because  the  first  two  negative  statements  are  not 
brought  into  direct  opposition  to  the  affirmative 
statement,  although  it  relates  to  each  one  of  the  nega- 
tive statements. 


The  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  69 

Rules  for  Delivery.  —  i.  When  a  member  of  a  com- 
pound sentence  is  simple,  it  is  delivered  with  the 
emphatic  sweep  up  to  and  after  the  words  upon  which 
stress  is  placed,  the  bend  at  pauses  of  imperfect  sense 
and  the  partial  fall  at  the  end  ;  except  that  when  it  is 
the  last  member  it  terminates  with  the  perfect  fall. 

2.  When,  however,  the  clauses  are  introduced  by 
correlative  words,  expressed  or  understood,  the  stress 
occurs  at  equal  or   nearly  equal  intervals,   and  the 
consequent  frequent  and  regular  recurrence  of  the 
emphatic  sweep  produces  in  this  member  the  perfect 
sweep.      The    bend    occurs  at  pauses    of    imperfect 
sense  and  the  sentence  closes  with  the  perfect  fall. 

3.  When  a  member  of  a  compound  sentence    is 
itself  compound,  it   conforms    to   the  rules    for   the 
delivery  of   the   compound   sentence ;    that   is,   it  is 
delivered  as  is  any  compound  sentence,  each  member 
terminating  with  the  partial  fall. 

4.  The    first   member   of   a   compound    sentence 
which  begins  with  a  negative  statement  is  delivered 
with  the  perfect  sweep  and  terminates  with  the  par- 
tial fall  when  the  negative  statement  is  followed  by  a 
clause  introduced  by   "  for  "  or  "  because."     When 
the  negative  statement  is  not  followed    by  a  cause 
clause,  it  terminates  with  the  bend,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  it  is  an  independent  sentence.     This  is 
so  because  it  is  the  first  part  of  an  antithesis,  which 
is  always  delivered  with  the  bend. 

5.  That  part  of  the  second  member  of  such  a  sen- 
tence  which   contains   an    affirmative    statement    in 


7O  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

opposition  to  the  negative  of  the  first  member,  ter- 
minates with  a  fall,  although  it  may  be  followed  by  a 
cause  clause  which  would  make  of  it  a  complex  sen- 
tence. This  is  so  because  it  is  an  antithesis,  the 
second  member  of  which  is  always  delivered  with  a 
fall,  partial  or  perfect. 

EXCEPTION 

There  is  an  exception  to  the  delivery  of  the  declar- 
ative sentence.  It  occurs  when  the  sentence  ends 
with  an  expression  which  is  in  apposition  with  some- 
thing which  precedes  it.  In  such  case,  the  partial 
fall  is  given  on  the  last  word  preceding  the  apposi- 
tive. 

Examples. 

1.  But  deep  in  his  soul  the  sign  he  wore, 
The  badge  of  the  suffering  and  the  poor. 

—  Lowell. 

2.  On  it  were  inscribed  the  age  and  name  of  the 

deceased  —  George  Somers,  aged  26. 

—  Irving. 

3.  On,    on    pressed    these    unfledged    warriors  - 

these  men  of  civil  life,  these  citizen  soldiers. 

—  Prentiss. 

4.  Now  we  know  we  have  the  gift  of  a  century, 

a   general,    cool,    sagacious,    prudent,    brave 
and  humane.  —  Prentiss. 

5.  Full  slyly  smiled  the  observant  page, 
And  gave  the  withered  hand  of  age 


The  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  71 

A  goblet,  crown'd  with  mighty  wine, 
The  blood  of  Valez'  scorched  vine.  — Scott. 

When  in  any  compound  sentence  a  series  of  nega- 
tive statements  is  followed  by  "no"  or  "nay,"  the 
"no"  or  "nay"  terminates  with  the  partial  fall. 
This  is  equally  true  when  "no"  or  "nay"  follows  a 
series  of  negative  sentences.  The  reason  for  this 
is  that  the  "no"  or  "nay"  is  an  unusually  em- 
phatic summary  of  all  the  preceding  statements ;  as 
such  its  delivery  must  conform  to  the  rule  for  usual 
emphasis.  (See  Exception  2,  page  53,  Modulation.) 

Examples. 

1.  Perhaps  some  who  might  wish  well  to  the  pres- 

ent establishment  did  cooperate;  nay,  I  do 
not  know  but  they  were  the  first  movers  of 
that  spirit ;  but  it  cannot  be  supposed  that 
the  spirit  then  raised  should  have  grown 
up  to  such  a  ferment  merely  from  a  propo- 
sition which  was  honestly  and  fairly  laid 
before  the  Parliament  and  left  entirely  to 
their  determination !  No !  The  spirit  was, 
perhaps,  begun  by  those  who  are  truly  friends 
to  the  illustrious  family  we  have  now  upon  the 
throne.  —  Walpole. 

2.  "Talk  not  to  us,"  said  the  Governor  General, 

"  of  their  guilt  or  innocence,  but  as  it  suits 
the  Company's  credit !  We  will  not  try  them 
by  the  Code  of  Justinian  nor  the  Institutes  of 


The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Timur.  We  will  not  try  them  either  by  Brit- 
ish laws  or  their  local  customs !  No !  We 
will  try  them  by  the  Multiplication  Table ; 
we  will  find  the  guilty  by  the  Rule  of 
Three ;  and  we  will  condemn  them  by  the 
unerring  rules  of  —  Cocker's  Arithmetic!" 

—  Sheridan. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  APPLICATION   OF   VOCAL   INFLECTION  —  (Continued} 
THE  INTERROGATIVE  SENTENCE 

Definition.  —  An  Interrogative  Sentence  is  one 
which  is  used  to  ask  a  question. 

For  the  sake  of  convenience  in  the  discussion 
which  follows,  it  is  necessary  to  divide  the  gram- 
matical Interrogative  Sentence  into  five  varieties, 
although  such  division  is  not  recognized  by  gram- 
marians. These  varieties  are :  Definite,  Indefinite, 
Indirect,  Double-Interrogative  and  Semi-Interroga- 
tive, each  of  which  may  be  simple,  complex  or  com- 
pound. 

THE   DEFINITE    INTERROGATIVE 

Definition.  —  The  Definite  Interrogative  always 
begins  with  a  verb  and  can  be  answered  by  yes 
or  no. 

Examples. 

Simple :  — 

1.  Have  they  not  arts  ?  —  BoswelL 

2.  Are  you  going  to  impose  a  foreign  monarchy 

upon  such  a  people  ?  —  Castelar. 
73 


74  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

3.    These  walls,  these  ivy-clad  arcades, 

These    moldering    plinths,    these     sad     and 

blackened  shafts, 
These    vague    entablatures,    this    crumbling 

frieze, 
These    shattered    cornices,    this    wreck,    this 

ruin, 
These    stones,   alas !    these   gray  stones,   are 

they  all, 

All  of  the  famed  and  the  colossal  left, 
By  the  corrosive  Hours  to  Fate  and  me  ? 

—  Poe. 

Complex :  — 

1.  Soars  thy  presumption,  then,  so  high, 
Because  a  wretched  kern  ye  slew, 

Homage  to  name  to  Roderick  Dhu  ? 

—  Scott. 

2.  May  slighted  woman  turn, 

And,  as  a  vine  the  oak  hath  shaken  off, 
Bend  lightly  to  his  leaning  trust  again  ? 

—  N.  P.  Willis. 

3.  Are  we  so  mean,  so  base,  so  despicable,  that 
we  may  not  attempt    to  express  our  horror, 
utter  our  indignation  at  the  most  brutal  and 
atrocious   war    that    ever    stained    earth    or 
shocked  high  heaven ;  at  the  ferocious  deeds 
of   a   savage   and   infuriated    soldiery,  stimu- 
lated and  urged  on  by  the  excesses  of  blood 
and  butchery,  at  the  mere  details  of  which  the 
heart  sickens  and  recoils  ?  —  Clay. 


The  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  75 

Compound :  — 

1.  Is  it  that  summer's  forsaken  our  valleys, 
And  grim,  surly  winter  is  here  ?  —  Burns. 

2.  Hast  thou  forgot  me,  then,  and  do  I  seem 
Now  in  thine  eyes  so  foul  ?  —  Milton. 

3.  Art  thou  that  Traitor-Angel,  art  thou  he 
Who  first  broke  peace  in  Heaven  and  Faith, 

till  then 

Unbroken,  and  in  proud  rebellious  arms 

Drew  after  him  the  third  part  of   Heaven's 
sons, 

Conjured  against  the  Highest,  for  which  both 
thou 

And  they,  outcasts  from  God,  are  here  con- 
demned 

To  waste  eternal  days  in  woe  and  pain  ? 

—  Milton. 

Rule  for  Delivery. — When  a  Definite  Interroga- 
tive Sentence  is  short,  it  is  delivered  with  the  as- 
cending slide  throughout  its  entire  length. 

When  the  sentence  is  long,  it  begins  with  the 
ascending  slide,  adopts  throughout  the  middle  the 
inflections  of  the  declarative  sentence  and  ends  with 
the  ascending  slide  clearly  defined. 

A  long  Definite  Interrogative  is  so  delivered  be- 
cause the  compass  of  the  voice  is  not  great  enough 
to  carry  the  ascending  slide  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end  of  the  sentence.  It  ends  with  a  marked 
ascending  slide  to  draw  attention  to  the  fact  that 


/5  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

a  question  is  being  asked.  This  is  necessary  because 
the  voice  in  the  middle  part  of  the  sentence  adopts  a 
declarative  form  of  delivery,  which,  because  of  cus- 
tom, prepares  the  mind  of  the  listener  for  a  declara- 
tive statement,  from  which  it  must  be  led  into  a 
condition  to  receive  an  interrogation.  This  is  ac- 
complished by  the  use  of  that  inflection  of  the  voice 
which  is  applicable  only  to  interrogative  sentences ; 
namely,  the  ascending  slide,  which  is  accentuated 
in  order  to  arrest  the  mind  of  the  listener  and  draw 
especial  attention  to  the  interrogation. 

When  the  sentence  is  compound,  and  so  consists  of 
more  than  one  member,  each  member  is  delivered  as 
is  any  independent  interrogative.  Each  member 
after  the  first,  however,  is  begun  with  the  voice 
pitched  slightly  higher  than  it  was  at  the  beginning 
of  the  preceding  member,  and  ends  with  the  voice 
pitched  slightly  higher  than  at  the  end  of  the  pre- 
ceding member;  and  the  last  member  is  delivered 
with  the  ascending  slide  more  pronounced  than  in 
any  of  the  other  members. 

The  object  of  this  delivery  is  to  gain  the  effect  of 
the  ascending  slide.  Since  the  sentence,  because  of 
its  construction  and  because  of  the  limited  compass 
of  the  voice,  cannot  be  delivered  with  a  slide  un- 
broken, each  part  is  carried  upward  in  the  scale,  the 
voice  leading  generally  toward  the  highest  point 
desired,  until  finally  it  reaches  the  object  of  the 
interrogation,  or  expresses  fully  the  thought  in  the 
mind  of  the  questioner. 


T/ie  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  77 

Exception  i.  —  When  a  Definite  Interrogative  Sen- 
tence is  repeated,  the  repetition  may  be  delivered  with 
the  descending  slide.  This  is  permissive,  not  obliga- 
tory. The  rendition  of  the  repetition  depends  entirely 
upon  the  thought  of  the  speaker  and  the  method  by 
which  he  is  best  able  to  impress  his  thought  force- 
fully upon  the  intelligence  of  his  hearers. 

Examples. 

1.  Did  you  give  Clewer  Head-knuckles  ?     Did  you 

give  Clewer  Head-knuckles  ?  —  Kipling. 

2.  Has  he  maintained  his  own  charges  ?     Has  he 

proved  what  he  alleged  ?  —  Webster. 

3.  Mother,  will   you   take    me    away,    away  from 

every  one,  at  once,  just  as  soon  as  possible? 
I  never  want  to  see  this  room,  or  this  house, 
or  Naples  again.  Will  you  come  ?  Will  you 
take  me  ?  —  Malet. 

4.  "  Is  it  possible  you  can  forgive  me  for  the  mis- 

erable lies  I  have  uttered  ? "  asked  John, 
almost  unconscious  of  the  words  he  was 
speaking.  "  Is  it  possible  you  can  forgive 
me  for  uttering  these  lies,  Dorothy  ? "  he 
repeated.  —  Major. 

Between  the  rendition  of  the  first  two  sentences 
used  here  for  illustrating  the  delivery  of  the  repeti- 
tion of  a  Definite  Interrogative  and  the  last  two 
sentences,  there  is  a  difference  which  the  student 


78  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

should  not  fail  to  notice.  In  either  of  the  first  two 
sentences  the  repetition  may  be  delivered  with  the 
descending  slide  throughout  its  entire  length,  or  it 
may  be  delivered  with  the  ascending  slide  through- 
out its  entire  length.  The  method  of  delivery,  how- 
ever, fixes  the  character  of  the  question  and  the 
mental  attitude  of  the  speaker. 

Delivered  with  the  ascending  slide  the  repetition 
has  the  effect  of  a  question  which  simply  seeks  anx- 
iously and  persistently  for  an  answer.  Delivered  with 
the  Descending  Slide  the  repetition  becomes,  in  Illus- 
tration i,  an  imperative  demand  for  an  immediate 
answer ;  in  Illustration  2  it  becomes  a  challenge  and 
has  the  effect  of  a  statement  negative  in  character, 
denying  the  truth  of  the  postulate  which  has  given 
rise  to  the  query. 

When,  therefore,  the  repetition  of  a  Definite  Inter- 
rogative is  delivered  with  the  descending  slide,  it  be- 
comes a  challenge,  a  defiance,  a  demand,  a  threat  or 
an  expression  of  a  similar  character. 

In  the  last  two  illustrations  the  repetitions  cannot 
be  delivered  with  the  descending  slide  because  there 
is,  obviously,  nothing  imperative  in  their  character. 
When,  therefore,  this  intent  is  lacking  in  the  repeti- 
tion of  a  Definite  Interrogative,  it  is  delivered  as  is 
every  simple  Definite  Interrogative  —  with  the  ascend- 
ing slide. 

Exception  2.  — The  last  of  a  series  of  Definite  Inter- 
rogatives  may  be  delivered  with  the  descending  slide, 
but  only  when  it  makes  a  pronounced  climax. 


The  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  79 

Examples. 

1.  Shy.    Three  thousand  ducats  —  well. 
Bass.    Ay,  sir,  for  three  months. 
Shy.    For  three  months  —  well. 

Bass.    For  the  which,  as  I  told  you,  Antonio  shall 

be  bound. 

Shy.    Antonio  shall  become  bound  —  well. 
Bass.    May  you  stead  me  ?     Will  you  pleasure 

me?     Shall  I  know  your  answer? 

—  Shakespeare. 

2.  Could  he  be  sure  that  he  never  had  flinched  ? 

nor  even  hung  back  for  a  foot  or  so  ?  nor 
pushed  any  other  man  on  the  spikes  to  save 
himself  from  going  there  ?  and  was  that  ac- 
cursed fortress  never  to  be  taken  by  any  skill 
or  strength  ?  was  even  Lord  Wellington 
wrong  for  once  in  setting  them  to  do  it  ? 

—  Blackmore. 

3.  I  desired  Titus,  and  with  him  I  sent  a  brother. 

Did  Titus  make  a  gain  of  you  ?  Walked  we 
not  in  the  same  spirit  ?  Walked  we  not  in 
the  same  steps?  —  Bible. 

Exception  3. — When  a  Definite  Interrogative  con- 
tains alternative  expressions,  or  when  two  definite 
interrogatives  stand  in  antithesis  to  each  other,  the 
first  of  either  is  delivered  according  to  the  law  gov- 
erning definite  interrogatives;  the  second,  according  to 
the  law  governing  indefinite  interrogatives.  (See  page 
82,  Rule  for  Delivery  of  Indefinite  Interrogatives.) 


8o  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Examples. 

1.  Did  the  Constitution  allow  you  the   choice  of 

ministers  for  our  welfare,  or  our  ruin  ? 

—  Vergniaud. 

2.  Is  it  for  or  against  them  that  this  Revolution  is 

made  ?  —  Gensonne. 

3.  Is  it  that  some  new  information  may  be  requi- 

site to  finish  a  system  thus  honorably  be- 
gun, or  is  the  right  honorable  gentleman's 
youth  the  only  account  which  can  be  given 
of  that  strange  precipitancy  and  anxiety 
which  he  betrays  on  this  occasion  ?  —  Fox. 

4.  Will  secret  influence  draw  along  with   it  that 

affection  and  cordiality  from  all  ranks,  with- 
out which  the  movements  of  Governments 
must  be  absolutely  at  a  stand,  or  is  he  weak 
and  violent  enough  to  imagine  that  his  Maj- 
esty's mere  nomination  will,  singly,  weigh 
against  the  constitutional  influence  of  all 
these  considerations  ?  —  Fox. 

THE    INDEFINITE    INTERROGATIVE 

Indefinite  Interrogative  Sentences  begin  with  ad- 
verbs or  relative  pronouns  and  cannot  be  answered 
by  "yes"  or  "no." 

Examples. 
Simple :  — 

i .    Who  is  this  king  of  glory  ?  —  Bible. 


The  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  81 

2.  What  is  there  of    proof   to  fill  this  demand, 

this  faith  of  the  noble-minded  in  the  im- 
perishability, the  eternity  of  his  works  ? 

—  Fichte. 

3.  How  long    could    you   maintain   that   Indian 

barrier  and  restrain  the  onward  march  of 
civilization,  Christianity  and  free  govern- 
ment by  a  barbarian  wall  ?  —  Douglas. 

Complex :  — 

1.  Who  that  is  a  sincere  friend  to  it  can  look 

with  indifference  upon  the  attempts  to 
shake  the  foundation  of  the  fabric  ? 

—  Benjamin. 

2.  Where  is  brave  McKee,  impetuous  Yell,  in- 

trepid Hardin,  chivalrous  Clay  and  gallant 
Watson,  with  hundreds  of  their  noble  com- 
rades, whom  we  meet  not  here  ? 

—  S.  S.  Prentiss. 

3.  Who  could  have  imagined  that  a  machine  so 

complicated,  so  vast,  so  new,  so  untried  as 
this  confederated  system  of  republican 
states,  should  be  exempt  from  the  common 
lot  of  states  which  have  figured  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world  ?  — Seward. 

Compound  :  — 

I.    Who  shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of  the  Lord ; 
and  who  shall  stand  in  His  holy  place  ? 

—  Bible. 


82  The  Principles  of  Oral  Englisli 

2.  What  strange  despotism  menaces  us,  and  what 

kind  of  government  is  it  proposed  to  give 
to  France  ?  —  Gensonne. 

3.  What,  then,  is  this  new  plot  formed  against  the 

liberty  of  our  country,  and  to  what  limit  shall 
we  suffer  our  enemies  to  weary  us  with  their 
maneuvers  and  insult  us  with  their  hopes  ? 

—  Gaudet. 

Rule  for  Delivery.  — When  the  sentence  is  short  it 
is  delivered  with  the  descending  slide  throughout  its 
entire  length. 

When  it  is  too  long  for  this  delivery  it  begins  with 
the  descending  slide,  adopts  the  inflections  of  the 
declarative  sentence  through  the  middle,  and  ends 
with  the  descending  slide  clearly  defined. 

When  the  sentence  is  compound  each  member  is 
delivered  as  is  any  independent  interrogative  sen- 
tence. Each  member  after  the  first  is  begun  with 
the  voice  pitched  slightly  lower  in  the  scale  than  it 
was  at  the  beginning  of  the  preceding  member,  and 
is  ended  with  the  voice  pitched  slightly  lower  in  the 
scale  than  at  the  end  of  the  preceding  member ;  and 
the  last  member  is  delivered  with  the  descending 
slide  more  pronounced  than  it  is  in  any  of  the  other 
members. 

The  reason  for  this  is  the  same  as  the  reason  given 
for  the  rule  affecting  the  definite  interrogative,  except 
that  for  "  ascending  slide  "  must  be  read  "  descending 
slide." 


The  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  83 

Exception When  an  Indefinite  Interrogative  has 

an  exclamatory  sense,  or  when  its  emotional  content 
is  exceptionally  strong,  it  is  delivered  with  the  per- 
fect sweep. 

Examples. 

1.  What  imports  the  contemptible  person  of  the 

last  of  the  kings  ?  —  Robespierre. 

2.  Who  shall  reconstruct  the  fabric  of  demolished 

government  ?  —  Webster. 

3.  Who  shall  rear  again  the  well-proportioned  col- 

umns of  constitutional  liberty  ?  Who  shall 
frame  together  the  skillful  architecture  which 
unites  national  sovereignty  with  state  rights, 
individual  security  and  public  prosperity  ? 

—  Webster. 

The  reason  for  this  delivery  is  that  the  introduction 
of  emotion  which  produces  the  exclamatory  feature  in 
the  Indefinite  Interrogative,  increases  the  number 
of  words  which  receive  stress.  The  expression  of 
strong  emotion  runs  in  waves  which  are  equally,  or 
nearly  equally,  separated.  Hence  the  stress  is  placed 
on  words  which  are  about  equally  distant  one  from 
the  other.  The  perfect  sweep  in  the  delivery  of  such 
sentences  follows  naturally. 

THE    INDIRECT    INTERROGATIVE 

Definition.  —  An  Indirect  Interrogative  Sentence  is 
one  which,  although  declarative  in  form,  evidently 


84  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

asks  a  question.  When  written  it  can  be  known  as  a 
question  only  from  the  context  in  which  it  is  found, 
or  when  taken  out  of  its  context  by  the  punctuation 
with  which  some  authority  has  pointed  it. 

Examples. 

1 .  You  threaten  us  ?  —  Browning. 

2.  You'll  pay  me  the  eight  shillings  I  won  of  you 

at  betting  ?  —  Shakespeare. 

3.  You  imagine  that  she  entertains  a  most  tender 

and  profound  regard  for  both  of  us  ? 

—  Augusta  Evans  Wilson. 

In  Example  2  the  stress  falls  on  "  pay,"  "  shillings," 
"won  "  and  "betting."  In  Example  3  the  stress  falls 
on  "imagine,"  "entertain,"  "tender,"  "profound" 
and  "  both." 

It  is  apparent  that  here  the  stress  occurs  at  equal 
or  nearly  equal  intervals.  This  condition  exists  in  all 
Indirect  Interrogative  Sentences.  Therefore,  the 

Rule  for  Delivery.  —  The  Indirect  Interrogative  Sen- 
tence is  delivered  with  the  perfect  sweep. 

THE    SEMI-INTERROGATIVE 

A  Semi- Interrogative  Sentence  is  one  which  contains 
one  or  more  declarative  clauses  and  one  or  more  in- 
terrogative clauses,  the  latter  suggesting,  if  not  seek- 
ing, an  answer. 

Examples. 

i.    Go,  poor  devil,  get  thee  gone;   why  should  I 
hurt  thee  ?  —  Sterne. 


The  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  85 

2.  I  had  made  strong  proof  of  my  constancy, 
Giving  myself  a  voluntary  wound 

Here,  in  the  thigh :  can  I  bear  that  with  patience, 
And  not  my  husband's  secrets  ?  —  Shakespeare. 

3.  If   Gilbert   Clennam,  reduced  to  imbecility,  at 

the  point  of  death,  and  laboring  under  the 
delusion  of  some  imaginary  relenting  toward  a 
girl,  of  whom  he  had  heard  that  his  nephew 
had  once  had  a  fancy  for  her,  which  he  had 
crushed  out  of  him,  and  that  she  afterward 
dropped  away  into  melancholy  and  withdrawal 
from  all  who  knew  her — if,  in  that  state 
of  weakness,  he  dictated  to  me,  whose  life  she 
had  darkened  with  her  sin,  and  who  had  been 
appointed  to  know  her  sin  from  her  own  hand 
and  her  own  lips,  a  bequest  meant  as  a  recom- 
pense to  her  for  supposed  unmerited  suffering ; 
was  there  no  difference  between  my  spurning 
that  injustice  and  coveting  mere  money  — 
a  thing  which  you  and  your  comrades  in  the 
prisons  may  steal  from  any  one  ?  —  Dickens. 

Rule  for  Delivery.  — When  the  declarative  part  of 
a  Semi-Interrogative  Sentence  precedes  the  inter- 
rogative part  and,  with  it,  makes  a  complex  sentence, 
the  former  is  delivered  with  the  bend  at  its  termina- 
tion and  with  the  intermediate  inflections  of  the  class 
of  sentences  to  which  it  belongs.  The  interrogative 
part  takes  the  slide  of  the  class  to  which  it  belongs. 

If    the   declarative    part    makes,    with    the   inter- 


86  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

rogative  part,  a  compound  sentence,  the  former  takes 
the  fall  at  its  end,  with  the  intermediate  inflections 
of  the  class  of  sentences  to  which  it  belongs.  The 
interrogative  part  takes  the  slide  of  the  class  to  which 
it  belongs. 

SEMI-INTERROGATIVES    IN    FORM    ONLY 

There  is  a  form  of  sentence  which  is  called  Semi- 
Interrogative,  but  which  cannot  be  admitted  into  that 
class  under  the  definition  of  an  interrogative  sen- 
tence, since  it  neither  seeks  nor  suggests  an  answer. 
This  form  of  sentence  simply  declares  that  a  question 
was  or  might  be  asked,  and  repeats  the  question. 

Examples. 

1.  And  thou  may'st  not 

Exclaim,  How,  then  !  was  Scylla  quite  forgot  ? 

—  Keats. 

2.  When  our  fathers  stood  in  London,  under  the 

corporation  charter  of  Charles,  the  question 
was,.  "Have  we  a  right  to  move  to  Massa- 
chusetts ?  "  -  //  'cmidl  Phillips. 

3.  Our    Normans    and    our    Gascons    would    have 

been  well  content  to  finish  the  crusade  here  : 
they  would  willingly  have  said,  like  the  little 
children  of  whom  Guibert  speaks  —  "  Is  not 
this  Jerusalem  ?  "  —  Michelet. 

Rule  for  Delivery.  —  Although  the  sentences  of 
which  these  are  examples  are  not  Semi-Interrogatives, 


The  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  87 

they  have  the  form  of  the  Semi-Interrogative  and  are 
delivered  as  such. 

DECLARATIVE  FOLLOWING  INTERROGATIVE 

Examples. 

1.  "Is  there  anything  else  to  do?"   asks  one  of 

these  butchers  in  the  deserted  court.  —  Taine. 

2.  "  What   do   you  think  of   it,  Helen  ? "    he  de- 

manded, almost  harshly.  —  Malet. 

3.  "  Doth  this  man  lie,  sire  ?  "  said  Warwick,  who 

had  seated  himself  a  moment,  and  who  now 
rose  again.  —  Lytton. 

Rule  for  Delivery.  —  Where  the  declarative  part 
follows  the  interrogative  part,  the  entire  expression 
is  delivered  with  the  slide  of  the  simple  interrogative, 
or  else  each  part  has  a  slide  of  its  own. 

DECLARATIVE    INTERPOLATED 

Examples. 

1.  "Will  the  convention,"  said  the  Royalist  ora- 

tors, "  never  be  satisfied  ?  "  — Alison. 

2.  "  Will  our  generals,"  he  inquired,  "  never  get 

that  idea  out  of  their  heads  ? "   —  Schouler. 

3.  "  How,  suppose  you,"  I  asked,  addressing  Doro- 

thy's back,  as  if  I  were  seeking  information, 
"  how,  suppose  you,  the  Rutland  people 
learned  that  John  was  confined  in  the  H ad- 
don dungeon,  and  how  did  they  come  by  the 
keys  ?  "  — Major. 


88  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Rule  for  Delivery.  —  When  the  declarative  part  of 
a  Semi-Interrogative  Sentence  is  interpolated  in  the 
question,  the  interpolation  is  delivered  as  though  it 
were  a  parenthesis. 

A  parenthesis  is  an  explanatory  or  qualifying 
clause  or  sentence  inserted  in  a  sentence  grammati- 
cally complete  without  it.  It  is  delivered  in  a  slightly 
lower  pitch  and  at  a  more  rapid  rate  than  the  rest  of 
the  sentence. 

EXCLAMATORY    SENTENCES 

Definition.  —  An  Exclamatory  Sentence  is  one 
which  expresses  sudden,  violent  or  any  extraordinary 
emotion.  It  may  be  declarative,  interrogative  or  im- 
perative in  intent. 

Examples. 

1.  Ah,  no,  no,  no,  it  is  mine  only  son ! 

—  Shakespeare. 

2.  But  what  of  the    legislative    assembly  ?      The 

legislative  assembly  ?  —  Louvet. 

3.  She  is  mine,  she  is  mine !     The  loveliest  crea- 

ture ever  s«en  is  mine!  —  Blackmore. 

4.  Do  your  worst, 

Blow  your  pipe  there  till  you  burst ! 

—  Browning. 

Rule  for  Delivery.  —  Since  the  exclamatory  sen- 
tence is  either  declarative,  interrogative  or  impera- 
tive in  intent,  it  is  delivered  in  accordance  with  the 


The  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  89 

law   governing    the    class  of  sentences  to  which  it 
belongs. 

SHORT    EXCLAMATIONS 

Many  short  exclamations  such  as  Ho !  Hail ! 
Hello!  O!  Pish!  Bah!  Pshaw!  Hurrah!  Heigho ! 
Ah  !  La  !  Tush  !  Aha  !  Eh  !  Oh  !  Ha  !  Alas  !  Fie  ! 
Hi !  Well !  Pray  !  Now  !  How  !  Hey  !  What !  Why  ! 
Ay !  standing  at  the  beginning  of  a  sentence  or  a 
clause  are  used  simply  as  a  keynote  to  the  pitch 
of  the  sentence  or  clause ;  that  is,  the  pitch  of  the 
sentence  or  clause  following  the  interjection  which 
introduces  it  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  interjection. 

When  the  interjection  has  no  definable  meaning 
the  speaker  gives  to  it  by  his  method  of  delivery  such 
meaning  as  he  intends  to  convey  to  his  audience. 

Examples. 

1.  Ay  me!  what  perils  do  environ  the  man  who 

meddles  with  cold  iron.  — Butler. 

2.  Ah  !  how  unjust  to  nature  and  himself 

Is  thoughtless,  thankless,  inconsistent  man ! 

—  Young. 

3.  Oh  !  the  roast  beef  of  Old  England  f 
And  oh  !  the  old  English  roast  beef  ! 

—  Fielding. 

4.  Catch,  then,  O  catch  the  transient  hour; 
Improve  each  moment  as  it  flies  ; 
Life's  a  short  summer  —  man  a  flower  — 
He  dies  —  alas !  how  soon  he  dies  !  —Johnson. 


QO  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

5!    Ah,  happy  hills  !  ah,  pleasing  shade  ! 
Ah,  fields  beloved  in  vain  ! 
Where  once  my  careless  childhood  strayed, 
A  stranger  yet  to  pain  !  —  Gray. 

6.  O  Music  !  sphere-descended  maid, 
Friend  of  pleasure,  wisdom's  aid !  —  Collins. 

7.  O  Luxury !  thou  curst  by  Heaven's  decree  ! 

—  Goldsmith. 

8.  O  Liberty  !  liberty  !  how  many  crimes  are  com- 

mitted in  thy  name  !  —  Madame  Roland. 

THE  IMPERATIVE  SENTENCE 

The  Imperative  Sentence  is  one  which  is  used  to 
utter  a  command  or  an  entreaty. 

Examples. 

1.  Achilles'  wrath,  to  Greece  the  direful  spring 
Of  woes  unnumber'd,  heavenly  goddess,  sing ! 

—  Homer. 

2.  Go  call  a  coach,  and  let  a  coach  be  called  ; 
And  let  the  man  who  calleth  be  the  caller ; 
And  in  his  calling  let  him  nothing  call 

But  Coach !    Coach !    Coach  !     O  for  a  coach, 
ye  gods  !  —  Carey. 

3.  So  live,  that  when  thy  summons  comes  to  join 
The  innumerable  caravan,  which  moves 

To  that  mysterious  realm,  where  each  shall  take 
His  chamber  in  the  silent  halls  of  death, 
Thou  go  not  like  the  quarry  slave  at  night, 


The  Application  of  Vocal  Inflection  91 

Scourged  to    his   dungeon,  but    sustained    and 

soothed 

By  an  unfaltering  trust,  approach  thy  grave 
Like  one  who  wraps  the  drapery  of  his  couch 
About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams. 

—  Bryant. 

Rule  for  Delivery. — The  Imperative  Sentence  is 
a  declarative  sentence.  It  is,  therefore,  delivered 
according  to  the  class  of  declaratives  to  which  it 
belongs. 

IMPERATIVE    EXCLAMATIONS 

Many  exclamations,  such  as  Halt !  Behold  !  Lo  ! 
Hold!  Shame!  Look!  Hush!  Hist!  Avaunt!  Away! 
Farewell !  Fie !  Come !  Pray !  are  imperative  and 
are  complete  sentences  ;  not  according  to  structure, 
but  in  that  they  convey  adequately  the  complete  ex- 
pression of  the  thought  in  the  mind  of  the  speaker. 
Inasmuch  as  not  all  the  grammatical  parts  of  the 
sentence  are  expressed,  the  usual  intermediate  inflec- 
tions cannot  occur.  The  word  is,  therefore,  delivered 
with  the  perfect  fall. 


CHAPTER  VI 

EMPHASIS 

VALUES  OF  VOCAL  PROPERTIES 

EMPHASIS  is  anything  that  attracts  attention  to  a 
thought  to  the  exclusion  of  another  thought  which  is 
contiguous. 

Emphasis  may  be  occasioned  by  the  voice,  the 
gestures,  the  facial  expression  or  the  pose  of  a 
speaker,  and  may  also  be  the  result  of  circumstances 
or  actions  entirely  extraneous  to  the  speaker  and 
removed  from  his  person  or  personality.  When  a 
circumstance,  an  action  or  an  occurrence  impinges 
upon  an  occasion  or  a  thought  with  a  force  more 
than  normal,  and  thus  creates  an  impression  on  the 
mind  of  an  auditor  or  a  witness  which  is  out  of  the 
ordinary,  it  attracts  attention  to  whatever  is  said  or 
done  at  that  time,  and,  therefore,  makes  emphatic  the 
expression  or  occurrence  or  occasion.  A  few  illus- 
trations may  serve  to  emphasize,  as  well  as  to  exem- 
plify, the  general  definition. 

Lorenzo  Dow  was  an  itinerant  preacher  in  New 
England  more  than  a  century  ago.  On  one  occa- 
sion he  went  to  a  town  to  preach  and  did'not  find  so 
large  an  audience  as  he  expected.  In  the  presence 

92 


Emphasis  93 

of  such  people  as  had  gathered  he  walked  out  of  the 
church.  Waiting  until  they  had  all  followed  him, 
Mr.  Dow,  placing  his  hands  on  the  ground,  galloped 
on  all  fours  around  the  edifice.  When  he  had  finished 
the  circuit  he  resumed  his  natural  position  and 
announced,  "  I  will  preach  in  this  church  six  months 
from  to-day."  It  is  related  that  on  his  next  visit  the 
church  was  so  thronged  before  he  arrived  that  he 
found  difficulty  in  making  his  way  to  the  pulpit. 
His  peculiar  action  had  emphasized  his  announce- 
ment, and  the  people,  impressed  by  it,  had  told  their 
neighbors,  and  hundreds  gathered  in  the  church  to 
listen  to  the  eccentric  preacher. 

Another  illustration :  About  fifteen  or  twenty 
years  ago  the  comic  papers  conducted  a  campaign 
against  the  Rev.  T.  De  Witt  Talmage,  next  to  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  Brooklyn's  most  famous  preacher. 
They  pictured  him  in  all  the  uncouth  attitudes  and 
awkward  gestures  which  made  Dr.  Talmage  remem- 
bered by  those  who  listened  to  him.  The  writer  asked 
Dr.  Talmage  why  he  did  not  sue  these  papers  for 
libel. 

"Sue  them!"  said  the  Doctor,  "  I  would  rather 
pay  them  to  continue  their  vituperation.  My  mission 
is  to  preach  the  Gospel.  What  they  say  and  do  only 
emphasize  the  fact  that  I  am  a  preacher,  and  so 
people  come  to  hear  me  if  they  are  near  enough  ;  if 
they  are  not,  they  read  my  sermons,  which  are  sent  to 
all  the  leading  papers  in  the  United  States  every  week. 
They  want  to  know  what  this  man  says,  who  is 


94  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

caricatured  so,  and  I  get  an  audience  which,  without 
such  help,  I  could  never  hope  to  speak  to.  Thou- 
sands read  what  I  say  where  hundreds  would  neither 
come  to  hear  me  nor  read  my  sermons.  I  am  not  a 
theologian,  but  a  preacher  ;  and  anything  that  will 
lend  emphasis  to  my  preaching  is  welcomed  by  me. 
The  comic  papers  attract  attention  to  me  and  my 
words,  and,  as  a  consequence,  to  the  Gospel  that  I 
preach.  I  won't  sue  them." 

An  incident  which  emphasized  an  occasion,  and 
not  an  utterance,  follows  :  — 

In  the  spring  of  1896  the  opera  "William  Tell" 
was  sung  in  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  with 
Tamagno  as  the  star.  In  the  forest  scene  of  the 
second  act  in  the  aria  "  Sombres  Forets,"  Lybia 
Drog  lost'  her  head  completely  and  Mancinelli 
signaled  to  the  orchestra  to  cease  playing.  There 
was  an  animated  colloquy  between  the  leader  and 
the  singer,  and  at  last  the  latter  walked  off  the  stage. 

During  almost  all  of  this  conversation  a  deep  hush 
encompassed  the  vast  audience,  and  a  wave  of  sym- 
pathy with  Mile.  Drog  thrilled  through  the  hushed 
house  from  orchestra  to  gallery.  She  was  new  to 
this  country,  and  although  her  reputation  was  wide 
and  high  on  the  other  side  of  the  water,  she  had  her 
way  still  to  make  here.  Everybody  wished  success 
for  her  on  this  occasion,  which  was  nearly,  if  not 
quite,  her  first  appearance  in  America.  Just  before 
Mile.  Drog  and  the  leader  finished  their  conversation, 
the  audience  began  to  offer  encouragement  by  clap- 


Emphasis  95 

ping  their  hands.  When  Mile.  Drog  started  to  leave 
the  stage,  however,  the  climax  occurred. 

The  audience  began  to  cheer.  The  sounds  of 
men's  voices  broke  the  silence  first  in  isolated  spots, 
but  in  an  instant,  almost,  all  the  people  were  caught 
in  an  outburst  of  enthusiastic  expression  of  sym- 
pathy, and  cheer  after  cheer  from  the  throats  of 
men  and  women  alike  rolled  in  tumultuous  waves 
from  the  floor  to  the  roof  of  the  magnificent  amphi- 
theater. People  rose  and  waved  hands  and  handker- 
chiefs as  they  shouted.  It  was  as  though,  in  an 
ecstasy,  the  people  were  calling  to  the  humiliated 
artist :  — 

"  Do  not  despond  nor  feel  ashamed  !  You  can  do 
it !  We  know  you  can  do  it !  So  far  your  perform- 
ance was  good,  and  we  appreciate  your  effort !  Take 
with  you,  as  you  retire  from  a  difficult  and  embar- 
rassing situation,  this  expression  of  our  heartiest  sym- 
pathy !  We  have  no  thought  of  blame  !  " 

For  some  minutes  after  Mile.  Drog  had  dis- 
appeared, the  thunders  of  applause  continued,  and 
when  at  last  the  shouts  diminished  and  finally  ceased, 
every  face  of  the  thousands  present  bore  indications 
of  the  tense  feeling  engendered  by  the  singer's  em- 
barrassment and  the  strong  impression  it  had  made 
upon  the  witnesses  to  it. 

These  stories,  which  might  be  multiplied,  illustrate 
one  thing :  incidents  and  personal  peculiarities 
attract  unusual  attention  to  the  words  and  the 
thought  of  the  speaker.  That  is  emphasis. 


g6  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Emphasis,  however,  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  used 
in  connection  with  the  subject  of  this  book,  is  any 
means  by  which  the  attention  of  an  audience  is  so 
concentrated  upon  a  word,  a  phrase,  a  clause,  a 
sentence  or  an  entire  speech,  that  an  unusually  strong 
impression  is  made  upon  the  minds  of  the  hearers. 

A  speaker  attracts  attention  to  his  thought  by 
some  expression  of  his  face,  by  some  attitude  of  his 
body,  by  a  gesture,  or  by  some  particular  property 
of  speech,  such  as  the  quality  of  his  voice,  the  rate 
at  which  he  speaks,  the  pitch  of  his  voice  or  its 
force. 

When  a  speaker  is  reproducing  the  words  and 
expressing  the  sentiments  of  another,  his  tone  is, 
necessarily,  artificial.  The  same  is  true  when  he  is 
delivering  a  speech  he  has  previously  prepared. 
This  is  because  he  is  conveying  his  idea  of  thoughts 
or  emotions  conceived  or  felt  prior  to  the  time  of  his 
utterance.  When  the  delivery  is  simultaneous  with 
the  conception,  the  tone  is  natural  and  is  the  product 
of  the  emotion  experienced.  When  it  takes  place  later 
it  is  voluntary,  but  aims  at  an  imitation  of  the  natural 
or  involuntary  tone  used  in  the  expression  of  the 
thought  or  emotion  which  is  being  portrayed. 

In  the  discussion  of  Emphasis  the  quality  of  the 
voice  will  be  taken  up  first. 

The  Normal  Quality  (page  25)  is,  as  its  name 
implies,  the  accustomed  sound  of  the  voice.  Since  it 
is  normal,  or  ordinary,  it  attracts  no  special  attention 
to  itself,  to  the  speaker  or  to  his  thought.  The 


Emphasis  97 

thought  must,  therefore,  acquire  emphasis,  if  em- 
phasis be  sought,  from  some  other  source. 

The  incident  related  of  Mr.  Dow  serves  to  illus- 
trate this.  The  attention  of  the  people  was  attracted 
by  his  eccentric  action.  When  he  stood  before  them, 
after  having  finished  the  circuit  of  the  church,  all 
waited  to  hear  what  a  man  who  would  act  so  oddly 
had  to  say.  They  listened  and  were  in  a  mental  con- 
dition to  receive  and  remember  his  words  —  not 
simply  to  hear  them.  Mr.  Dow's  announcement  was 
made  in  the  normal  tone,  and  gained  emphasis  from 
his  act,  not  from  the  quality  of  the  tone  used. 

It  is  well  here  to  caution  the  student  not  to  per- 
form an  act  so  that  it  will  merely  divide  the  attention 
of  the  audience  between  the  act  and  the  utterance. 
The  object  of  an  act  is  to  direct  the  attention  of  the 
audience  to  the  utterance,  not  to  the  act  itself.  Take 
the  incident  related  of  the  opera  singer.  The  relator 
remembers  vividly  the  occasion,  because  of  the 
singer's  failure,  but  he  retains  no  impression  of  the 
music  of  the  performance.  If,  however,  the  singer 
had  recovered  and  sung  her  part  well,  her  singing 
would  never  be  forgotten.  Under  such  a  condition 
her  failure  would  have  given  emphasis  to  the  singing 
which  followed. 

It  is  clear  that  the  failure  of  the  singer  made  an 
occasion  emphatic,  but  that  it  lent  no  emphasis  to  the 
opera  itself.  A  speaker  or  reader  wishes  to  empha- 
size, not  the  occasion,  but  his  words.  Therefore,  he 
must  either  accompany  or  follow  his  emphatic  act 


98  TJic  Principles  of  Oral  English 

with    something    which   in    itself   contains    material 
worthy  of  remembrance. 

Any  tone  that  is  other  than  normal  is  emphatic, 
because  anything  that  is  out  of  the  normal  attracts 
attention. 

Emphasis  by  the  Orotund. 

The  Lord  is  in  His  holy  temple;  let  all  the 
earth  keep  silence  before  Him.  (See  page  25.) 

This  thought  is  in  itself  emphatic.  Its  emphatic 
feature  is  grandeur.  The  vocal  means  for  expressing 
grandeur  is  a  certain  quality  of  the  voice  ;  namely, 
the  full,  round,  rich  tone  which  is  called  Orotund. 
There  are,  of  course,  various  means  which  might  be 
adopted  to  attract  particular  attention  to  this  thought 
and  so  render  it  peculiarly  impressive,  or  emphatic. 

These  will  be  treated  in  their  proper  places ;  but 
the  emphasis  which  attracts  attention  to  the  grandeur 
of  this  thought,  without  which  all  other  emphasis 
must  fail,  is  the  use  of  the  Orotund  Quality  of  the 
voice. 

Emphasis  by  the  Guttural. 

Shy.  To  bait  fish  withal !  if  it  will  feed  noth- 
ing else,  it  will  feed  my  revenge.  He  hath  dis- 
graced me,  and  hindered  me  half  a  million ; 
laughed  at  my  losses,  mocked  at  my  gains, 
scorned  my  nation,  thwarted  my  bargains,  cooled 
my  friends,  heated  my  enemies ;  and  what's  his 
reason?  I  am  a  Jew.  Hath  not  a  Jew  eyes? 


Emphasis  99 

hath  not  a  Jew  hands,  organs,  dimensions,  senses, 
affections,  passions?  fed  with  the  same  food, 
hurt  with  the  same  weapons,  subject  to  the  same 
diseases,  healed  by  the  same  means,  warmed  and 
cooled  by  the  same  winter  and  summer,  as  a 
Christian  is  ?  If  you  prick  us,  do  we  not  bleed  ? 
if  you  tickle  us,  do  we  not  laugh  ?  if  you  poison 
us,  do  we  not  die  ?  and  if  you  wrong  us,  shall  we 
not  revenge  ?  If  we  are  like  you  in  the  rest, 
we  will  resemble  you  in  that.  If  a  Jew  wrong 
a  Christian,  what  is  his  humility  ?  revenge.  The 
villainy  you  teach  me  I  will  execute ;  and  it 
shall  go  hard  but  I  will  better  the  instruction. 

—  Shakespeare. 

This  passage  is  emphatic  because  into  it  the 
speaker  is  injecting  accumulated  hatred  and  desire 
for  revenge  upon  the  foes  of  his  race  —  passions 
engendered  by  centuries  of  persecution,  and  which 
are  now  concentrated  into  one  person  who  sees  an 
opportunity  for  retaliating  upon  a  representative  of 
the  people  who  has  treated  his  fathers  and  himself 
evilly. 

In  the  rendition  of  this  passage,  attention  is 
attracted  to  these  passions  chiefly  by  the  quality  of 
voice  used.  Shylock's  passion  was  so  strong  that  it 
progressed  into  a  rage,  which  contracted  the  muscles 
of  his  throat.  It  became,  therefore,  physically  im- 
possible for  him  to  utter  a  pure  tone.  The  result 
was  what  has  been  described  as  guttural  tone,  which 


ioo  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

was  used  involuntarily  by  Shylock,  and  so  is  put 
forth  voluntarily  by  one  who  reproduces  Shylock's 
words  and  counterfeits  his  emotions. 

What  is  true  of  the  Orotund  and  of  the  Guttural  is 
true  also  of  all  the  other  qualities  of  the  voice,  each 
in  its  own  particular  class.  Each  attracts  by  its  em- 
ployment special  attention  to  the  emotion  which  origi- 
nally brought  it  into  conventional  use. 

The  line  of  reasoning  by  which  it  appears  that  the 
different  qualities  of  the  voice  are  used  to  produce 
emphasis,  applies  also  to  Force,  Pitch,  and  Rate,  the 
other  cardinal  properties  of  the  voice.  Each  is  a 
means  by  which  special  attention  is  called  to  a  thought 
or  an  emotion,  and  each  has  its  particular  province  in 
emphasizing  that  sentiment  which,  having  produced 
it,  cannot  be  separated  from  it. 

Take  the  example  on  page  33,  Modulation. 

Hush !  silence  along  the  lines  there !  Silence 
along  the  lines  there !  Not  a  word  —  not  a 
word  on  the  peril  of  your  lives !  —  Lippard. 

The  emphasis  of  this  utterance  is  dependent  upon 
nothing  else  than  the  force  with  which  it  is  uttered. 

It  sometimes  happens,  however,  that  two  or  more 
of  the  cardinal  properties  of  the  voice  unite  to  give 
emphasis  to  a  passage.  Take  the  passage  on  page  36, 
Modulation. 

Oh  !  show  me  where  is  He, 

The  high  and  holy  One, 

To  whom  thou  bend'st  the  knee, 


Emphasis  101 

And  pray'st,  —  "  Thy  will  be  done  !  " 

I  hear  thy  song  of  praise 

And,  lo  !  no  form  is  near  : 

Thine  eyes  I  see  thee  raise, 

But  where  doth  God  appear  ? 

Oh !  teach  me  who  is  God,  and  where  His  glories  shine, 
That  I  may  kneel  and  pray,  and  call  thy  Father  mine. 

Gaze  on  that  arch  above  ; 

The  glittering  vault  admire, 

Who  taught  those  orbs  to  move  ? 

Who  lit  their  ceaseless  fire  ? 

Who  guides  the  moon  to  run 

In  silence  through  the  skies  ? 

Who  bids  that  dawning  sun 

In  strength  and  beauty  rise  ? 

There  view  immensity  !     Behold  !  my  God  is  there  ; 
The  sun,  the  moon,  the  stars,  His  majesty  declare. 

—  Hitgo  Hutton. 

In  the  first  stanza  of  this  example  the  Orotund 
Quality  expresses  reverence ;  the  slow  rate  expresses 
solemnity.  In  the  second  stanza  we  have  Orotund 
Quality  united  with  Energetic  Force  to  express 
sublimity. 

Other  methods  of  producing  emphasis  by  the  use 
of  the  voice  are  :  Stress  and  Antithesis. 

Stress  is  unusual  force  placed  upon  a  single  word 
in  a  sentence  for  the  purpose  of  attracting  particular 
attention  to  that  word.  When  unusual  force  is  placed 


IO2  The  P.  inciplcs  of  Oral  English 

upon  a  word,  the  pitch  rises.  See  definition  of  First 
and  Second  Sweeps,  page  48. 

Many  writers  on  elocution  confuse  the  terms  stress 
and  emphasis,  using  them  as  though  they  were  inter- 
changeable. EmpJiasis,  as  has  already  been  pointed 
out  in  this  chapter,  is  a  general  term  employed  to 
indicate  any  means  of  attracting  attention  to  a  given 
point ;  stress  is  only  one  means. 

There  are  no  laws  governing  the  selection  of  words 
upon  which  stress  shall  be  placed.  Where  it  shall  fall 
in  a  sentence  depends  altogether  upon  the  thought  of 
the  speaker.  There  are,  however,  a  few  expressions 
in  which  the  stress  has  been  fixed  by  usage.  This  is 
called  Conventional  Stress.  Some  of  these  expres- 
sions are :  and  so  forth  ;  and  so  on  ;  from  year  to 
year;  from  house  to  house ;  from  time  to  time. 

In  the  first  two  examples,  reason  dictates  that  the 
stress  should  fall  upon  the  last  word ;  convention,  or 
use,  has  placed  it  on  the  second  word,  and  established 
it  there  so  firmly  that  were  one  to  place  it  where  it 
really  belongs,  the  expression  would  have  a  strange 
sound.  In  the  others,  stress  should  fall  upon  the 
third  word,  but  custom  has  placed  it  on  the  last  word. 

DEFERRED  STRESS 

In  sentences  which  contain  a  series  of  words  the 
stress  is  placed  upon  the  last  one  only.  This  is  called 
Deferred  Stress. 

This  law  of  elocution  has  grown  out  of  the  prac- 


Emphasis  1 03 

tice  which  writers  and  speakers  have  cultivated  of 
so  arranging  a  series  that  the  most  important  word 
stands  last,  and  would,  because  of  its  importance,  re- 
ceive the  stress  naturally;  but  there  are  many  in- 
stances in  which  a  series  of  words,  all  of  which  are 
equal  in  value,  is  used,  and  there  is  no  apparent  rea- 
son why  one  or  the  other  should  receive  the  stress. 
Custom,  however,  still  defers  the  stress  to  the  last. 

The  same  is  true  where  an  entire  phrase  is  em- 
phatic. It  is  impossible  to  place  stress  upon  each 
word,  so  custom  has  decreed  that  the  stress  shall  be 
deferred  to  the  last. 

Examples. 

i.  This  much  has  been  already  gained.  This 
harvest  of  glory  is  secure,  ripe,  reaped,  gar- 
nered, kid  in  the  sacred  treasure  of  the  past. 
Oh,  for  a  prophet's  eye  to  look  into  the  future  ! 
If  it  be  the  destiny  of  America  to  administer 
with  fidelity,  wisdom  and  success,  her  free 
institutions,  and,  especially,  that  union  which 
is  the  great  security  of  all  the  rest,  and  to 
spread  them  over  the  whole  continent  —  fill- 
ing it  with  a  numerous,  enlightened,  indus- 
trious, moral,  and  contented  people — one  in 
name,  one  in  government,  one  in  power —  and 
thus  realizing  the  prophetic  vision  of  Berke- 
ley, to  build  up  here  an  empire  the  last  and 
noblest  offspring  of  Time,  —  this  whole  accu- 
mulated greatness  will  constantly  tend  to 


IO4  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

exalt  higher  and  higher  in  the  estimation  of 
mankind  him  who  will  forever  be  deemed 
the  founder  of  it  all.  —  Gray. 

When  nothing  intervenes  between  the  series  and 
the  predicate,  the  last  member  of  the  series,  for  the 
sake  of  increasing  the  climacteric  effect,  is  delivered 
with  the  partial  fall. 

2.  Neither  blindness,  nor  gout,  nor  age,  nor  penury, 

nor  domestic  afflictions,  nor  political  disap- 
pointments, nor  abuse,  nor  proscription,  nor 
neglect,  had  power  to  disturb  his  sedate  and 
majestic  patience.  — Macaulay. 

3.  Simple  as  the  language  of  a  child,  it  charms  the 

most  fastidious  taste.  Mournful  as  the  voice 
of  grief,  it  reaches  to  the  highest  pitch. of 
exultation.  Intelligible  to  the  unlearned 
peasant,  it  supplies  the  critic  and  the  sage 
with  food  for  earnest  thought.  Silent  and 
secret  as  the  reproofs  of  conscience,  it  echoes 
beneath  the  vaulted  dome  of  the  cathedral 
and  shakes  the  trembling  multitude.  —  Ellis. 

Example  2  illustrates  antithesis.  The  first  half  of 
each  sentence  is  in  contrast  with  the  second  half  of 
each  sentence.  Each  half,  therefore,  is  emphatic  as 
a  whole.  It  is  manifestly  impossible  to  place  stress 
upon  each  word,  so  the  stress  is  deferred  to  the  last 
word  of  each  half,  although  those  words  are  not  in 
contrast  with  each  other.  "  Child,"  for  example,  is 


Emphasis  105 

not  in  contrast  with  the  word  "  taste,"  nor  is  "  peas- 
ant" in  contrast  with  "thought";  but  vocally,  the 
antithesis  is  brought  out  by  placing  the  stress  upon 
each  of  these  words. 

THE  EMPHATIC  PAUSE 

A  Pause  is  a  suspension  of  the  sound  of  the  voice 
for  the  purpose  of  indicating  the  grammatical  struc- 
ture or  the  rhetorical  sense  of  a  sentence.  It  is  also 
used  sometimes  to  attract  attention  to  a  word  or  to  an 
expression.  When  so  used  it  is  called  the  Emphatic 
Pause.  The  Emphatic  Pause  may  occur  at  the  same 
place  as  the  grammatical  or  rhetorical  pause.  In 
such  case  it  is  simply  a  prolongation  of  the  grammati- 
cal or  rhetorical  pause.  It  may  occur  also  where  no 
grammatical  or  rhetorical  pause  would  be  permitted. 

The  Emphatic  Pause  may  either  precede  or  follow 
the  word  to  which  the  speaker  or  reader  desires  to 
attract  particular  attention.  When  it  precedes  the 
emphatic  word  or  expression  it  attracts  attention  to 
the  reader  or  speaker,  and  so  opens  the  mind  of 
the  listeners  to  what  is  said  immediately  afterward. 
When  it  follows  the  emphatic  word  or  expression,  it 
interrupts  the  movement  of  the  thought  and  throws 
the  mind  of  the  listeners  back  upon  what  has  just 
been  said. 

Examples. 

i.    I  shall  enter  upon  no  encomium  upon  Massa- 
chusetts.     She  needs   none.     There   she  is. 


io6  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Behold  her  and  judge  for  yourselves.  There 
is  her  history.  The  world  knows  it  by  heart. 
The  past,  at  least,  is  secure.  There  is  Bos- 
ton, and  Concord,  and  Lexington,  and  Bunker 
Hill;  and  there  they  will  remain  —  forever. 

—  Webster. 

2.  "Whatever  thou  wert  or  art  to  me,  Sah-luma," 

he  murmured  in  sobbing  haste,  — "  Thou 
knowest  that  I  loved  thee,  though  now  I 
leave  thee !  Farewell ! "  And  his  voice 
broke  in  its  strong  agony.  "  O  how  much 
easier  to  divide  body  from  soul  than  part 
myself  from  thee !  Sah-luma,  beloved  Sah- 
luma  !  God  give  thee  —  rest !  God  pardon 
thy  sins,  —  and  mine !  "  -  Corelli. 

3.  Conscript  Fathers !  I  do  not  rise  to  waste  the 

night  in  words. 

Let  that  plebeian  talk.     'Tis  not  my  trade. 
But   here    I    stand   for   right  —  let    him    show 

proofs.  —  Croly. 

In  the  first  two  of  these  examples  the  pause  occurs 
before  the  words  to  which  attention  is  to  be  attracted  ; 
in  the  last  example  it  occurs  after  the  emphatic  ex- 
pression, for  the  sake  of  concentrating  attention  upon 
what  has  been  said. 

ANTITHESIS 

Antithesis  is  a  figure  of  speech  in  which  words, 
phrases  or  sentiments  are  contrasted. 


Emphasis  1 07 

Antithesis  is  one  of  the  commonest  and  most 
valuable  kinds  of  emphasis.  There  is  only  one 
means  of  expressing  it  vocally,  and  that  is  by  opposed 
inflections. 

Example. 

Talent  is  something,  but  tact  is  everything. 
Talent  is  serious,  sober,  grave  and  respectable ; 
tact  is  all  that,  and  more  too.  It  is  not  a  sixtli 
sense,  but  it  is  the  life  of  all  \hzfive.  It  is  the 
open  eye,  the  quick  ear,  the  judging  taste,  the 
keen  smell  and  the  lively  touch ;  it  is  the  inter- 
preter of  all  riddles,  the  surmounter  of  all  diffi- 
culties, the  remover  of  all  obstacles.  It  is  useful 
in  all  places  and  at  all  times ;  it  is  useful  in 
solitude,  for  it  shows  a  man  his  way  into  the 
world  ;  it  is  useful  in  society,  for  it  shows  him  his 
way  through  the  world.  Talent  is  power,  tact  is 
skill ;  talent  is  weight,  tact  is  momentum  ;  talent 
knows  what  to  do,  tact  knows  how  to  do  it ; 
talent  makes  a  man  respectable,  tact  will  make 
him  respected ;  talent  is  wealth,  tact  is  ready 
money.  —  London  Atlas. 


CHAPTER  VII 
PRACTICE 

THE  object  of  this  chapter  is  to  present  to  the 
student  an  opportunity  for  putting  into  practice  what 
he  has  learned  from  previous  chapters  about  the  use 
of  the  voice  in  its  properties,  qualities,  modulations, 
and  inflections.  It  is  trite  to  say  that  there  can  be 
no  adequate  degree  of  facility  without  extensive 
practice,  but  practice,  daily  and  careful  as  well  as 
intelligent,  cannot  be  too  strongly  urged. 

There  are  two  schools  of  elocution,  each  opposed 
to  the  other.  One  teaches  that  the  pupil  should  be 
trained  in  the  use  of  the  voice  in  all  its  modifications 
by  mere  vocal  exercises,  as  with  scales,  without  the 
association  of  any  attendant  thought.  It  is  similar 
to  the  method  of  developing  the  voice  for  singing. 

The  other  school  teaches  the  development  of  the 
thought  value  of  a  passage  independent  of  any  tech- 
nical skill  in  the  use  of  the  voice.  It  holds  that  when 
the  thought  is  appreciated  the  appropriate  mode  of 
giving  vocal  expression  to  it  will  follow  naturally  and 
as  a  matter  of  course.  For  example,  this  school 
teaches  that  rate  is  a  mere  mechanical  property,  the 
various  degrees  of  which  everybody  can  apply  appro- 
priately at  will,  and  that  no  practice  is  necessary  to 

108 


Practice  1 09 

a  facility  in  its  use.  This  method,  taken  alone,  leads 
to  loose  and  inaccurate  delivery. 

It  is  true  that  there  are  persons  in  whom  the  art 
of  elocution  is  innate  to  so  marked  a  degree  that  a 
full  appreciation  of  a  sentiment  is  followed  by  a  vocal 
delivery  which  is  more  nearly  accurate  than  would  be 
produced  by  another  person  by  whom  the  art  has  not 
been  cultivated ;  but  even  such  persons  require  much 
practice  before  they  can  arrive  at  such  a  degree  of 
proficiency  that  their  delivery  can  be  called  excellent, 
and  it  is  not  safe  to  assume  that  any  student  can  be 
counted  among  their  number. 

While  neither  method  used  alone  can  accomplish 
the  object  for  which  the  student  of  this  subject  is 
striving,  an  intelligent  combination  of  both  can  bring 
about  the  desired  result.  Mere  vocal  exercises  de- 
mand little  application  of  intelligence,  but  for  their 
practice  a  well-trained  ear  is  absolutely  necessary. 
The  ear  of  the  pupil,  obviously,  has  not  been  trained 
to  a  point  of  proficiency,  but  that  of  the  teacher,  con- 
structively, has.  The  mind,  in  its  appreciation  of  a 
passage  to  be  rendered,  and  the  voice,  in  the  audible 
application  of  the  laws  noted  in  previous  chapters, 
must  both  be  brought  into  play  at  the  same  time. 
Carefully  selected  examples  of  literature,  in  which 
the  thought  is  apparent  and  the  emotion  obvious, 
require  that  the  mind  shall  be  satisfied,  and  the  effort 
to  meet  this  requirement  assists  the  ear  in  criticising 
vocal  delivery. 

Careful  daily  practice  of   such    examples,   accom- 


1 10  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

panied  by  persistent  and  intelligent  criticism  of  the 
vocal  efforts  put  forth,  will  improve  the  quality  of 
the  voice  and  cause  it  to  respond  readily  to  the 
mind's  appreciation  of  a  thought  or  a  sentiment.  It 
will  increase  the  power  of  the  voice  and  develop 
agility  in  passing  from  one  degree  of  force  or  rate  to 
another,  will  enlarge  its  compass  and  make  bend, 
falls,  sweeps,  and  slides,  graceful,  easy  movements 
of  tone,  thus  robbing  the  delivery  of  monotony. 

Every  student  who  has  reached  the  grade  of  a 
high  school  is  familiar  with  both  the  emotional  and 
thought  content  of  the  examples  placed  in  this  chap- 
ter, and  that  is  the  reason  why  they  have  been 
selected  for  use  here.  A  good  teacher  must  be  help- 
ful to  the  student  who  desires  to  get  the  most  good 
from  the  practice  of  these  examples,  but  a  teacher  is 
not  an  absolute  necessity.  Practice  without  assist- 
ance, is,  of  course,  slower  and  more  arduous  than 
practice  under  the  guidance  of  a  trained  mind  and 
voice ;  but  the  same  result  can  be  accomplished  with- 
out a  teacher  as  with  one,  if  the  student  be  earnest, 
assiduous  and  intelligent. 

Let  the  student  first  go  over  carefully  the  passage 
to  be  delivered,  analyzing  it  according  to  its  gram- 
matical construction,  studying  every  word  and  phrase, 
until  he  grasps  fully  the  meaning  of  each  sentence, 
and  has  a  thorough  conception  of  the  thought  and 
emotion  contained  in  it.  Let  him  then  determine  to 
compel  his  voice  to  respond  expressively  to  the  con- 
ception of  his  mind,  and  in  the  manner  best  calcu- 


Practice  1 1 1 

lated  to  bring  out  the  full  value  of  the  thought  and 
emotion  of  the  passage.  Each  effort  to  accomplish 
this  should  be  carefully  analyzed  to  ascertain  whether 
or  not  the  quality  of  the  voice  has  been  appropriate 
and  has  been  good  of  its  kind,  and  if  the  force,  pitch 
and  rate  are  in  consonance  with  the  thought  and 
feeling  which  he  desires  to  express  vocally.  Com- 
plete success  will  not  come  immediately,  but  patience 
and  persistence  are  indispensable  factors  in  develop- 
ing the  voice.  Every  conscientious  effort  is  certain 
to  result  in  material  progress. 

It  is  most  important  that  the  voice  shall  be  de- 
veloped in  its  normal  quality,  because  that  quality 
being  the  accustomed  tone,  the  tone  most  used  in 
ordinary  intercourse,  is  the  foundation  upon  which  all 
the  other  qualities  are  built.  A  perfect  normal 
quality  is  full,  clear  and  resonant.  Care  should  be 
taken  in  aiming  at  fullness  not  to  become  orotund ; 
in  aiming  at  resonance,  not  to  become  strident,  be- 
cause noise  is  not  resonance ;  and  in  aiming  at  clear- 
ness, not  to  become  shrill. 

The  mistake  should  not  be  made  of  thinking  that 
the  normal  tone  is  anything  less  than  the  whole  of  the 
voice,  even  though  it  be  not  exercised  in  its  greatest 
volume.  In  the  employment  of  subdued  force,  associ- 
ated with  the  normal  tone,  the  common  error,  among 
young  people  particularly,  of  making  the  voice  thin 
and  thus  robbing  it  of  resonance,  should  be  carefully 
avoided.  It  is  detrimental  to  the  development  of  the 
voice,  and  the  sound  thus  produced  is  not  pleasant. 


1 1 2  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

THE  NORMAL  TONE 

The  example  given  below  has  been  selected  be- 
cause the  tone  to  be  used  in  its  delivery  is  normal 
in  quality  from  the  beginning  of  the  passage  to  the 
end,  and  it  is  well  in  early  practice  to  select  examples 
which  do  not  demand  changes  of  quality  in  their 
rendition. 

The  pupil  should  be  careful  that  his  mouth  is  well 
opened,  that  articulation  is  distinct,  that  the  groups 
of  words  spoken  together  are  of  proper  length  for 
breathing  and  in  accord  with  the  thought,  and  that 
the  lungs  are  sufficiently  charged  with  air,  so  that 
the  tone  can  be  well  sustained.  An  example  should 
be  read  several  times  daily  until  the  pupil  is  satisfied 
with  the  development  of  the  quality. 

THE   VOYAGE 

(Selection  from  Washington  Irving) 

To  an  American  visiting  Europe,  the  long  voyage 
he  has  to  make  is  an  excellent  preparative.  From  the 
moment  you  lose  sight  of  the  land  you  have  left,  all 
is  vacancy  until  you  step  on  the  opposite  shore,  and 
are  launched  at  once  into  the  bustle  and  novelties  of 
another  world. 

I  have  said  that  at  sea  all  is  vacancy.  I  should 
correct  the  expression.  To  one  given  up  to  day- 
dreaming, and  fond  of  losing  himself  in  reveries,  a 
s^a  voyage  is  full  of  subjects  for  meditation  ;  but 


.   .  Practice  113 

then  they  are  the  wonders  of  the  deep,  and  of  the 
air,  and  rather  tend  to  abstract  the  mind  from  worldly 
themes.  I  delighted  to  loll  over  the  quarter  railing, 
or  climb  to  the  maintop  on  a  calm  day,  and  muse 
for  hours  together  on  the  tranquil  bosom  of  a  sum- 
mer's sea  ;  or  to  gaze  upon  the  piles  of  golden  clouds 
just  peering  above  the  horizon,  fancy  them  some 
fairy  realms,  and  people  them  with  a  creation  of  my 
own ;  or  to  watch  the  gentle,  undulating  billows  roll- 
ing their  silver  volumes  as  if  to  die  away  on  those 
happy  shores. 

There  was  a  delicious  sensation  of  mingled  security 
and  awe  with  which  I  looked  down,  from  my  giddy 
height,  on  the  monsters  of  the  deep  at  their  uncouth 
gambols  —  shoals  of  porpoises  tumbling  about  the 
bow  of  the  ship ;  the  grampus,  slowly  heaving  his 
huge  form  above  the  surface  ;  or  the  ravenous  shark, 
darting  like  a  specter  through  the  blue  waters.  My 
imagination  would  conjure  up  all  that  I  had  heard 
or  read  of  the  watery  world  beneath  me ;  of  the  finny 
herds  that  roam  its  fathomless  valleys  ;  of  shapeless 
monsters  that  lurk  among  the  very  foundations  of 
the  earth ;  and  of  those  wild  phantasms  that  swell 
the  tales  of  fishermen  and  sailors. 

Sometimes  a  distant  sail,  gliding  along  the  edge 
of  the  ocean,  would  be  another  theme  of  idle  specu- 
lation. How  interesting  this  fragment  of  a  world 
hastening  to  join  the  great  mass  of  existence  !  What 
a  glorious  monument  of  human  invention,  that  has 
thus  triumphed  over  wind  and  wave;  has  brought 


1 14  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

the  ends  of  the  earth  in  communion ;  has  established 
an  interchange  of  blessings,  pouring  into  the  sterile 
regions  of  the  north  all  the  luxuries  of  the  south ; 
diffused  the  light  of  knowledge  and  the  charities  of 
cultivated  life  ;  and  has  thus  bound  together  those 
scattered  portions  of  the  human  race,  between  which 
nature  seemed  to  have  thrown  an  insurmountable 
barrier ! 

We  one  day  descried  some  shapeless  object  drift- 
ing at  a  distance.  At  sea  everything  that  breaks  the 
monotony  of  the  surrounding  expanse  attracts  atten- 
tion. It  proved  to  be  the  mast  of  a  ship  that  must 
have  been  completely  wrecked ;  for  there  were  the 
remains  of  handkerchiefs  by  which  some  of  the  crew 
had  fastened  themselves  to  this  spar  to  prevent  their 
being  washed  off  by  the  waves.  There  was  no  trace 
by  which  the  name  of  the  ship  could  be  ascertained. 
The  wreck  had  evidently  drifted  about  for  many 
months;  clusters  of  shellfish  had  fastened  about  it, 
and  long  seaweeds  flaunted  at  its  sides.  But  where, 
thought  I,  are  the  crew  ?  Their  struggle  has  long 
been  over;  they  have  gone  down  amidst  the  roar  of 
the  tempest ;  their  bones  lie  whitening  in  the  caverns 
of  the  deep.  Silence,  oblivion,  like  the  waves,  have 
clo'sed  over  them,  and  no  one  can  tell  the  story  of 
their  end. 

What  sighs  have  been  wafted  after  that  ship ! 
what  prayers  offered  up  at  the  deserted  fireside  of 
home !  How  often  has  the  mistress,  the  wife,  and 
the  mother  pored  over  the  daily  news  to  catch  some 


Practice  1 1 5 

casual  intelligence  of  this  rover  of  the  deep  !  How 
has  expectation  darkened  into  anxiety,  anxiety  into 
dread,  and  dread  into  despair  !  Alas  !  not  one  me- 
mento shall  ever  return  for  love  to  cherish.  All 
that  shall  ever  be  known  is,  that  she  sailed  from  her 
port,  "and  was  never  heard  of  more." 

The  sight  of  the  wreck,  as  usual,  gave  rise  to  many 
dismal  anecdotes.  This  was  particularly  the  case  in 
the  evening  when  the  weather,  which  had  hitherto 
been  fair,  began  to  look  wild  and  threatening,  and 
gave  indications  of  one  of  those  sudden  storms  that 
will  sometimes  break  in  upon  the  serenity  of  a  sum- 
mer voyage.  As  we  sat  round  the  dull  light  of  a 
lamp  in  the  cabin,  that  made  the  gloom  more  ghastly, 
every  one  had  his  tale  of  shipwreck  and  disaster.  I 
was  particularly  struck  with  a  short  one  related  by 
the  captain. 

"  As  I  was  once  sailing,"  said  he,  "in  a  fine,  stout 
ship,  across  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  one  of  the 
heavy  fogs,  that  prevail  in  those  parts,  rendered  it 
impossible  for  me  to  see  far  ahead,  even  in  the  day- 
time ;  but  at  night  the  weather  was  so  thick  that  we 
could  not  distinguish  any  object  at  twice  the  length 
of  our  ship.  I  kept  lights  at  the  masthead,  and  a 
constant  watch  forward  to  look  out  for  fishing  smacks, 
which  are  accustomed  to  lie  at  anchor  on  the  banks. 
The  wind  was  blowing  a  smacking  breeze,  and  we 
were  going  at  a  great  rate  through  the  water.  Sud- 
denly the  watch  gave  the  alarm  of  'A  sail  ahead  ! ' 
but  it  was  scarcely  uttered  till  we  were  upon  her. 


u6  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

She  was  a  small  schooner  at  anchor,  with  her  broad- 
side toward  us.  The  crew  were  all  asleep,  and  had 
neglected  to  hoist  a  light.  We  struck  her  just  amid- 
ships. The  force,  the  size  and  weight  of  our  vessel 
bore  her  down  below  the  waves ;  we  passed  over  her 
and  were  hurried  on  our  course. 

"  As  the  crashing  wreck  was  sinking  beneath  us, 
I  had  a  glimpse  of  two  or  three  half-naked  wretches 
rushing  from  her  cabin ;  they  had  just  started  from 
their  beds  to  be  swallowed,  shrieking,  by  the  waves. 
I  heard  their  drowning  cry  mingling  with  the  wind. 
The  blast  that  bore  it  to  our  ears  swept  us  out  of  all 
further  hearing.  I  shall  never  forget  that  cry !  It 
was  some  time  before  we  could  put  the  ship  about, 
she  was  under  such  headway.  We  returned,  as 
nearly  as  we  could  guess,  to  the  place  where  the 
smack  was  anchored.  We  cruised  about  for  several 
hours  in  the  dense  fog.  We  fired  several  guns,  and 
listened  if  we  might  hear  the  halloo  of  any  survivors; 
but  all  was  silent  —  we  never  heard  nor  saw  anything 
of  them  more  !  " 

It  was  a  fine  sunny  morning  when  the  thrilling  cry 
of  "  land !  "  was  given  from  the  masthead.  I  ques- 
tion whether  Columbus,  when  he  discovered  the  New 
World,  felt  a  more  delicious  throng  of  sensations  than 
rush  into  an  American's  bosom  when  he  first  comes 
in  sight  of  Europe.  There  is  a  volume  of  associa- 
tions in  the  very  name.  It  is  the  land  of  promise, 
teeming  of  everything  of  which  his  childhood  has 
heard,  or  on  which  his  studious  years  have  pondered. 


Practice  117 

From  that  time  until  the  period  of  arrival  it  was 
all  feverish  excitement.  The  ships  of  war,  that 
prowled  like  guardian  giants  around  the  coast ;  the 
headlands  of  Ireland,  stretching  out  into  the  channel; 
the  Welsh  mountains,  towering  into  the  clouds,  —  all 
were  objects  of  intense  interest.  As  we  sailed  up 
the  Mersey,  I  reconnoitered  the  shores  with  a  tele- 
scope. My  eye  dwelt  with  delight  on  neat  cottages, 
with  their  trim  shrubberies  and  green  grassplots.  I 
saw  the  moldering  ruins  of  an  abbey  overrun  with 
ivy,  and  the  taper  spire  of  a  village  church  rising 
from  the  brow  of  a  neighboring  hill :  all  were  char- 
acteristic of  England. 

Practice  in  use  of  the  Normal  Quality  each  day, 
and  several  times  a  day,  should  not  be  neglected, 
because  it,  more  than  any  other  quality,  tends  to  de- 
velop the  full  tone  of  the  voice.  The  student  will  find 
that  practice  in  the  Orotund,  also,  will  have  a  bene- 
ficial effect  even  upon  the  normal  quality  of  the  voice. 

There  are  many  subtle  changes  of  tone  between 
the  normal  and  the  orotund,  and  it  must  be  obvious 
that  not  all  of  these  can  be  mentioned.  The  oro- 
tund is  used  to  express  an  idea  of  grandeur,  sub- 
limity, devotion,  and  of  bold,  grand  or  lofty  thought. 
But  even  in  each  of  these  there  are  so  many  grada- 
tions that  not  all  can  be  treated,  nor  even  mentioned. 
The  orotund,  being  a  sustained  tone,  should  be 
continuous  in  its  sounding ;  there  should  be  no  inter- 
ruptions by  the  intervention  of  another  tone,  and 


n8  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

practically  the  same  fullness  of  tone  should  be  main- 
tained from  the  beginning  of  a  passage  which  calls 
for  the  orotund  to  its  close. 

In  the  first  of  the  following  examples  the  idea  of 
sublimity  is  coupled  with  that  of  solemnity.  The 
idea,  therefore,  finds  expression  in  orotund  quality 
and  low  pitch.  However,  it  must  not  be  thought, 
because  low  pitch  is  sustained,  that  the  entire  selec- 
tion is  delivered  in  a  monotone.  There  are  variations 
of  the  tone  in  low  pitch  which,  though  unac- 
counted for  by  nomenclature,  exist  nevertheless,  and 
are  recognized  by  the  attentive  ear.  These  varia- 
tions permit  a  rise  and  fall  which,  though  scarcely 
describable,  are  still  observable,  and  through  them 
the  voice  travels  to  the  full  expression  of  all  the 
variations  of  the  sentiment  which  is  expressed  in  the 
selection. 

SELECTION    FROM   THANATOPSIS 
William  Cullen  Bryant 

Yet  not  to  thine  eternal  resting  place 
Shalt  thou  retire  alone,  nor  couldst  thou  wish 
Couch  more  magnificent.     Thou  shalt  lie  down 
With  patriarchs  of  the  infant  world  —  with  kings, 
The  powerful  of  the  earth  —  the  wise,  the  good, 
Fair  forms,  and  hoary  seers  of  ages  past, 
All  in  one  mighty  sepulcher.     The  hills, 
Rock-ribbed  and  ancient  as  the  sun,  —  the  vales 
Stretching  in  pensive  quietness  between; 
The  venerable  woods  —  rivers  that  move 


Practice  119 

In  majesty,  and  the  complaining  brooks 

That  make  the  meadows  green ;  and,  poured  round 

all, 

Old  ocean's  gray  and  melancholy  waste,  — 
Are  but  the  solemn  decorations  all 
Of  the  great  tomb  of  man.     The  golden  sun, 
The  planets,  all  the  infinite  host  of  heaven, 
Are  shining  on  the  sad  abodes  of  death, 
Through  the  still  lapse  of  ages.     All  that  tread 
The  globe  are  but  a  handful  of  the  tribes 
That  slumber  in  its  bosom.  —  Take  the  wings 
Of  morning,  pierce  the  Barcan  wilderness, 
Or  lose  thyself  in  the  continuous  woods 
Where  rolls  the  Oregon,  and  hears  no  sound, 
Save  his  own  dashings  —  yet  the  dead  are  there : 
And  millions  in  those  solitudes,  since  first 
The  flight  of  years  began,  have  laid  them  down 
In  their  last  sleep  —  the  dead  reign  there  alone. 
So  shalt  thou  rest,  and  what  if  thou  withdraw 
In  silence  from  the  living,  and  no  friend 
Take  note  of  thy  departure  ?     All  that  breathe 
Will  share  thy  destiny.     The  gay  will  laugh 
When  thou  art  gone,  the  solemn  brood  of  care 
Plod  on,  and  each  one  as  before  will  chase 
His  favorite  phantom;  yet  all  these  shall  leave 
Their  mirth  and  their  employments,  and  shall  .come 
And  make  their  bed  with  thee.     As  the  long  train 
Of  ages  glides  away,  the  sons  of  men, 
The  youth  in  life's  fresh  spring,  and  he  who  goes 
In  the  full  strength  of  years,  matron  and  maid, 


I2O  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

The  speechless  babe,  and  the  gray-headed  man,  — 
Shall  one  by  one  be  gathered  to  thy  side, 
By  those  who  in  their  turn  shall  follow  them. 

So  live,  that  when  thy  summons  comes  to  join 
The  innumerable  caravan,  which  moves 
To  that  mysterious  realm  where  each  shall  take 
His  chamber  in  the  silent  halls  of  death, 
Thou  go  not,  like  the  quarry  slave  at  night, 
Scourged  to  his  dungeon,  but,  sustained  and  soothed 
By  an  unfaltering  trust,  approach  thy  grave 
Like  one  who  wraps  the  drapery  of  his  couch 
About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams. 

THE  OROTUND 

In  the  following  selection  the  first  paragraph  is 
presented  so  that  the  student  shall  obtain  an  appre- 
ciation of  the  sentiment  contained  in  the  second 
paragraph.  The  first  is  delivered  in  the  normal 
tone ;  the  second  requires  the  use  of  the  orotund, 
and  is  the  one  intended  for  practice.  The  para- 
graph expresses  a  bold,  lofty  thought.  It  is  an  ex- 
cellent example  for  practice,  not  only  of  the  orotund, 
but  of  a  pitch  which  is,  at  times,  above  the  normal ; 
of  a  force  which  varies  from  below  the  normal  to 
the  energetic,  and  of  a  rate  which  fluctuates  from 
the  slow  to  the  rapid  and  back  again  to  the  slow. 

Among  all  the  examples  of  oratory  which  exist  in 
the  English  language,  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible, 
to  find  another  which  is  so  valuable  for  practice  as 


Practice  1 2 1 

this  oration  of  Ingersoll's.  Practically  all  the  salient 
variations  of  force,  pitch  and  rate  are  in  it  exempli- 
fied, and  all  are  well  graded.  It  should  be  studied 
attentively,  and  a  full  appreciation  obtained  of  the 
sentiment  expressed  in  each  sentence  before  any  at- 
tempt is  made  to  read  it  aloud. 


SELECTION    FOR    PRACTICE 
R.  G.  Ingersoll 

The  past  rises  before  me  like  a  dream.  Again 
we  are  in  the  great  struggle  for  national  life.  We 
hear  the  sounds  of  preparation  —  the  music  of  the 
boisterous  drums,  the  silver  voices  of  heroic  bugles. 
We  see  thousands  of  assemblages  and  hear  the  ap- 
peals of  orators ;  we  see  the  pale  cheeks  of  women 
and  the  flushed  faces  of  men;  and  in  those  assem- 
blages we  see  all  the  dead  whose  dust  we  have  cov- 
ered with  flowers.  We  lose  sight  of  them  no  more. 
We  are  with  them  when  they  enlist  in  the  great  army 
of  freedom.  We  see  them  part  from  those  they 
love.  Some  are  walking  for  the  last  time  in  the 
quiet  woody  places  with  the  maidens  they  adore. 
We  hear  the  whisperings  and  the  sweet  vows  of 
eternal  love  as  they  lingeringly  part  forever.  Others 
are  bending  over  cradles,  kissing  babies  that  are 
asleep.  Some  are  receiving  the  blessings  of  old 
men.  Some  are  parting  who  hold  them  and  press 
them  to  their  hearts  again  and  again,  and  say  noth- 
ing ;  and  some  are  talking  with  wives,  and  endeavor- 


122  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

ing  with  brave  words  spoken  in  the  old  tones  to  drive 
from  their  hearts  the  awful  fear.  We  see  them  part. 
We  see  the  wife  standing  in  the  door  with  the  babe 
in  her  arms,  standing  in  the  sunlight,  sobbing ;  at 
the  turn  of  the  road  a  hand  waves ;  she  answers  by 
holding  high  in  her  loving  hands  the  child.  He  is 
gone,  and  forever. 

We  see  them  all,  as  they  march  proudly  away, 
under  the  flaunting  flags,  keeping  time  to  the  wild, 
grand  music  of  war,  marching  down  the  streets  of 
the  great  cities,  through  the  towns  and  across  the 
prairies,  down  to  the  fields  of  glory,  to  do  and  to  die 
for  the  eternal  right.  We  go  with  them,  one  and  all. 
We  are  by  their  side  on  all  the  glory  fields,  in  all  the 
hospitals  of  pain,  on  all  the  weary  marches.  We 
stand  guard  with  them  in  the  wild  storm  and  under 
the  quiet  stars.  We  are  with  them  in  ravines  run- 
ning with  blood,  in  the  furrows  of  old  fields.  We 
are  with  them  between  contending  hosts,  unable  to 
move,  wild  with  thirst,  the  life  ebbing  slowly  away 
among  the  withered  leaves.  We  see  them  pierced 
by  balls  and  torn  with  shells  in  the  trenches  by  forts 
and  in  the  whirlwind  of  the  charge,  where  men  be- 
come iron,  with  nerves  of  steel.  We  are  with  them 
in  the  prisons  of  hatred  and  famine ;  but  human 
speech  can  never  tell  what  they  endured.  We  are 
at  home  when  the  news  comes  that  they  are  dead. 
We  see  the  maiden  in  the  shadow  of  her  first  sorrow. 
We  see  the  silvered  head  of  the  old  man  bowed  with 
the  last  grief. 


Practice  123 

Other  examples  which  are  valuable  for  practice  in 
this  connection  are  :  Kipling's  "  Recessional,"  Mark- 
ham's  "The  Man  with  the  Hoe,"  Byron's  "Apostro- 
phe to  the  Ocean,"  Coleridge's  "Mont  Blanc,"  Tell's 
"Apostrophe  to  Liberty,"  by  Sheridan  Knowles,  ex- 
tract from  Patrick  Henry's  speech,  beginning  "It  is 
in  vain,  sir,  to  extenuate  the  matter  "to  the  end,  and 
Psalm  CIV. 

THE  GUTTURAL 

The  Guttural  is  associated  with  the  expression  of 
the  baser  passions,  and  for  that  reason  is  not  often 
called  for  in  the  practice  of  speaking  and  reading. 
It  generally  goes  with  outbursts  of  strong  passion, 
which  are  not  durable.  It  should  not  be  practiced 
more  than  enough  to  acquire  facility  in  use,  because 
as  a  consequence  of  the  constriction  of  the  thoracic 
muscles  the  throat  is  rasped  and  becomes  inflamed, 
and  hoarseness  ensues.  It  is  necessary,  however,  to 
practice  the  Guttural  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring 
facility  m  the  use  of  all  the  properties  of  the  voice. 

SELECTIONS    FOR    PRACTICE 

i.  Thou  drinker  of  lees,  feeder  upon  husks!  To 
think  I  could  love  thee,  having  seen  Masala!  Such 
as  thou  were  born  to  serve  him.  He  would  have 
been  satisfied  with  release  of  the  six  talents ;  but  I 
say  to  the  six  thou  shalt  add  twenty  —  twenty,  dost 
thou  hear?  The  kissing  of  my  little  finger  which 
thou  hast  taken  from  him,  though  with  my  consent 


124  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

shall  be  paid  for ;  and  that  I  have  followed  thee  with 
affectation  of  sympathy,  and  endured  thee  so  long, 
enter  into  the  account  not  less  because  I  was  serving 
him.  The  merchant  here  is  thy  keeper  of  moneys. 
If  by  to-morrow  at  noon  he  has  not  thy  order  acted 
upon  in  favor  of  my  Mesala  for  six-and-twenty  tal- 
ents—  mark  the  sum!  —  thou  shalt  settle  with  the 
Lord  Sejanus.  Be  wise  and  —  farewell. 

-Lew  Wallace. 

2.  God's  wrath  upon  the  Saxon  ;  may  they  never 
know  the  pride 

Of  dying  on  the  battlefield,  their  broken  spear 
beside ; 

When  victory  guilds  the  gory  shroud  of  every 
fallen  brave, 

Or  death  no  tales  of  conquered  clans  can  whis- 
per to  his  grave. 

May  every  light  from  cross  of  Christ  that  saves 
the  heart  of  man, 

Be  hid  in  clouds  of  blood  before  it  reach  the 
Saxon  clan ; 

For  sure,  O  God,  and  you  know  all  ?  whose 
thought  for  all  sufficed, 

To  expiate  these  Saxon  sins,  they'd  want  an- 
other Christ. 

Is  it  thus,  O  Shaun,  the  haughty !  Shaun,  the 

valiant,  that  we  meet  ? 
Have  my  eyes  been  lit  by  Heaven  but  to  guide 

me  to  defeat  ? 


Practice  125 

Have  I  no  chief,  or  you  no  clan,  to  give  us  both 

defense  ? 
Or  must  I,  too,  be  statued  here  with  thy  cold 

eloquence  ? 
Thy  ghastly  head  grins  scorn  upon  old  Dublin's 

Castle  tower, 
Thy  shaggy  hair  is  wind-tossed,  and  thy  brow 

seems  rough  with  power ; 
Thy   wrathful   lips,    like    sentinels,    by   foulest 

treachery  stung, 
Look  rage  upon  the  world  of  wrong,  but  chain 

thy  fiery  tongue. 


That  tongue  whose  Ulster  accent  woke  the  ghost 
of  Columbkill, 

Whose  warrior  words  fenced  'round  with  spears 
the  oaks  of  Derry  Hill; 

Whose  reckless  tones  gave  life  and  death  to  vas- 
sals and  to  knaves, 

And  hunted  hordes  of  Saxons  into  holy  Irish 
graves. 

The  Scotch  marauders  whitened  when  his  war- 
cry  met  their  ears, 

And  the  death  bird,  like  a  vengeance,  poised 
above  his  stormy  cheers ; 

Ay,  Shaun,  across  the  thundering  sea,  out- 
chanting  it  your  tongue, 

Flung  wild  un-Saxon  war-whoopings  the  Saxon 
court  among. 


126  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Just  think,  O  Shaun !  the  same  moon  shines  on 

Liffey  as  on  Foyle, 
And    lights    the    ruthless  knaves  on  both,  our 

kinsman  to  despoil ; 
And  you  the  hope,  voice,  battle-ax,  the  shield  of 

us  and  ours, 
A  murdered,  trunkless,    blinding    sight    above 

these  Dublin  towers. 
Thy  face  is  paler  than  the  moon,  my  heart  is 

paler  still  - 
My  heart?     I  had  no  heart  —  'twas  yours!  to 

keep  or  kill. 
And  you  kept  it  safe  for  Ireland,  chief  —  your 

life,  your  soul,  your  pride - 
But  they  sought  it  in  thy  bosom,  Shaun  —  with 

proud  O'Neill  it  died. 
You  were  turbulent  and   haughty,  proud   and 

keen  as  Spanish  steel ; 
But  who  had  right  of  these,  if  not  our  Ulster's 

chief  — O'Neill? 


Who  reared  aloft  the  "Bloody  Hand"  until  it 

paled  the  sun, 
And  shed  such  glory  on  Tyrone,  as  chief  had 

never  done  ? 
He    was    "  turbulent  "    with   traitors  —  he   was 

"haughty"  with  the  foe  — 
He  was  "cruel,"  say  ye  Saxons  !     Ah,  he  dealt 

ye  blow  for  blow  ! 


Practice  127 

He  was  "  rough  "  and    "  wild,"  and  who's  not 

wild  to  see  his  hearthstone  razed  ? 
He  was  "merciless  as  fire"  —ah,  ye    kindled 

him  —  he  blazed  ! 
He  was  "  proud  "  !  yes,  proud  of  birthright,  and 

because  he  flung  away 
Your   Saxon  stars  of   princedom,  as    the  rock 

does  mocking  spray, 
He  was  wild,  insane  for  vengeance  —  aye !  and 

preached  it  till  Tyrone 
Was  ruddy,  ready,  wild,  too,  with  "  Red  Hands  " 

to  clutch  their  own. 


"  The  Scots  are  on  the  border,  Shaun  !  "  —  ye 

saints,  he  makes  no  breath  — 
I  remember  when  that  cry  would  wake  him  up 

almost  from  death : 
Art  truly  dead  and  cold  ?     O  chief,  art  thou  to 

Ulster  lost  ? 
"  Dost  hear —  dost  hear  ?     By  Randolf  led,  the 

troops  the  Foyle  have  crossed  !  " 
He's  truly  dead  !  he  must  be  dead  !  nor  is  his 

ghost  about  — 
And  yet  no  tomb  could  hold  his  spirit  tame  to 

such  a  shout ! 
The   pale  face  droopeth    northward  —  ah!    his 

soul  must  loom  up  there, 
By  old    Armagh,   or  Antrim's   glynns,   Lougli 

Foyle,  or  Bann  the  fair ! 


128  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

I'll   speed   me    Ulster-wards,  your  ghost   must 

wander  there,  proud  Shaun, 
In  search  of    some  O'Neill   through  whom  to 

throb  its  hate  again Savage. 

3.    Oh,  that  the  slave  had  forty  thousand  lives,— 
One  is  too  poor,  too  weak  for  my  revenge ! 
Now  do  I  see  'tis  time.  —  Look  here,  lago  ! 
All  my  fond  love  thus  do  I  blow  to  heaven; 
Tis  gone.— 

Arise,  black  vengeance,  from  thy  hollow  hell ! 
Yield  up,  O  love,  thy  crown  and  hearted  throne 
To   tyrannous  hate :    swell,    bosom,    with    thy 

fraught ; 
For  'tis  of  Aspicks'  tongues.  —  Shakespeare. 

See  also  other  examples  of  the  use  of  the  Guttural 
given  in  the  chapter  on  Modulation. 

THE  WHISPER 

Much  practice  is  necessary  to  utter  a  pure  whisper 
so  that  it  can  be  heard  at  a  considerable  distance. 
It  requires  extreme  care  in  articulation,  and  some 
exaggeration,  also.  The  throat  should  not  be  opened 
too  freely,  because  under  such  circumstance  a  mere 
breath  is  emitted ;  and  there  should  be  a  slight 
closure  of  the  vocal  organs  above  the  vocal  cords. 

In  the  following  selection  only  the  Jew,  of  course, 
whispered. 


Practice  1 29 

SELECTION    FROM    DICKENS 

I.  "Oliver,"  cried  the  Jew,  beckoning  to  him. 
"  Here,  here  !  Let  me  whisper  to  you." 

"  I  am  not  afraid,"  said  Oliver  in  a  low  voice,  as  he 
relinquished  Mr.  Brownlow's  hand. 

"  The  papers,"  said  the  Jew,  drawing  him  toward 
him,  "  are  in  a  canvas  bag,  in  a  hole  a  little  way  up 
the  chimney  in  the  top  front  room.  I  want  to  talk  to 
you,  my  dear.  I  want  to  talk  to  you." 

"  Yes,  yes,"  returned  Oliver.  "  Let  me  say  a 
prayer.  Do  !  Let  me  say  one  prayer.  Say  only 
one,  upon  your  knees,  with  me,  and  we  will  talk  till 
morning." 

"  Outside,  outside,"  replied  the  Jew,  pushing  the 
boy  before  him  toward  the  door,  and  looking  vacantly 
over  his  head.  "  Say  I  have  gone  to  sleep  —  they'll 
believe  you.  You  can  get  me  out  if  you  take  me  so. 
Now  then,  now  then  !  " 

"  Oh  !  God  forgive  this  wretched  man  !  "  cried  the 
boy  with  a  burst  of  tears. 

"  That's  right,  that's  right,"  said  the  Jew.  "  That'll 
help  us  on.  This  door  first.  If  I  shake  and  tremble, 
as  we  pass  the  gallows,  don't  you  mind,  but  hurry  on. 
Now,  now,  now !  " 

"  Have  you  nothing  else  to  ask  him,  sir  ? "  inquired 
the  turnkey. 

"  No  other  question,"  replied  Mr.  Brownlow.  "  If 
I  hoped  we  could  recall  him  to  a  sense  of  his  posi- 
tion —  " 


130  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

"  Nothing  will  do  that,  sir,"  replied  the  man,  shak- 
ing his  head.  "  You  had  better  leave  him." 

The  door  of  the  cell  opened,  and  the  attendants 
returned. 

"  Press  on,  press  on,"  cried  the  Jew.  "  Softly,  but 
not  so  slow.  Faster,  faster  !  " 

The  men  laid  hands  upon  him,  and  disengaging 
Oliver  from  his  grasp,  held  him  back.  He  struggled 
with  the  power  of  desperation  for  an  instant ;  and 
then  sent  up  cry  upon  cry  that  penetrated  even  those 
massive  walls,  and  rang  in  their  ears  until  they 
reached  the  open  yard. 

It  was  some  time  before  they  left  the  prison. 
Oliver  nearly  swooned  after  this  frightful  scene,  and 
was  so  weak  that  for  an  hour  or  more  he  had  not  the 
strength  to  walk. 

Day  was  dawning  when  they  again  emerged.  A 
great  multitude  had  already  assembled  ;  the  windows 
were  filled  with  people,  smoking  and  playing  cards 
to  beguile  the  time ;  the  crowd  were  pushing,  quar- 
reling, and  joking.  Everything  told  of  life  and 
animation  but  one  dark  cluster  of  objects  in  the  very 
center  of  all  —  the  black  stage,  the  crossbeam,  the 
rope,  and  all  the  hideous  apparatus  of  death. 

The  following  selection  is  for  the  conventional  whis- 
per, which  is  really  a  semi-tone.  In  the  practice  of  it 
care  should  be  exercised  not  to  produce  too  much 
tone,  since  so  doing  will  obscure  the  whisper  and  rob 
it  of  its  effect, 


Practice  1 3 1 

2.    Is  this  a  dagger,  which  I  see  before  me, 

The  handle  toward  my  hand  ?     Come,  let  me 

clutch  thee. 

I  have  thee  not,  and  yet  I  see  thee  still. 
Art  thou  not,  fatal  vision,  sensible 
To  feeling  as  to  sight  ?  or  art  thou  but 
A  dagger  of  the  mind,  a  false  creation, 
Proceeding  from  the  heat-oppressed  brain  ? 
I  see  thee  yet,  in  form  as  palpable 
As  this  which  now  I  draw. 
Thou  marshal'st  me  the  way  that  I  was  going; 
And  such  an  instrument  I  was  to  use. 
Mine   eyes  are    made    the   fools  o'    the   other 

senses, 

Or  else  worth  all  the  rest :  I  see  thee  still ; 
And  on  thy  blade  and  dudgeon  gouts  of  blood, 
Which    was    not  so  before.     There's    no    such 

thing  : 

It  is  the  bloody  business,  which  informs 
Thus  to  mine  eyes.       Now  o'er  the    one    half 

world 

Nature  seems  dead,  and  wicked  dreams  abuse, 
The    curtained    sleep ;     now    witchcraft    cele- 
brates 

Pale  Hecate's  offerings  ;  and  withered  murder, 
Alarumed  by  his  sentinel,  the  wolf, 
Whose  howls,  his  watch,  thus  with  his  stealthy 

pace, 
With  Tarquin's  ravishing  strides,  towards    his 

design 


132  TJie  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Moves  like  a  ghost.       Thou  sure  and  firm-set 

earth, 
Hear  not  my  steps,  which  way  they  walk,  for 

fear 

Thy  very  stones  prate  of  my  whereabout, 
And  take  the  present  horror  from  the  time, 
Which  now  suits  with  it.     Whilst  I  threat,  he 

lives ; 

Words  to  the  heat  of  deeds  to  cold  breath  gives. 

— Shakespeare . 

For  other  examples  see  Poe's  "  The  Fall  of  the 
House  of  Usher,"  the  paragraph  in  which  he  tells  of 
his  knowledge  of  the  living  burial  of  his  sister,  begin- 
ning "  Not  hear  it? "  and  Blackmore's  "  Lorna  Doone," 
where  John  Ridd  invades  the  valley  of  the  Doones 
and  holds  a  whispered  conversation  with  Lorna,  while 
the  guards  and  sentinels  are  about  him,  beginning, 
"  Oh,  Lorna,  don't  you  know  me  ?  " 

The  last  example  is  especially  valuable  for  practice, 
because  whisper  and  sonorous  utterance  are  mingled, 
and  the  reader  is  obliged  to  make  sudden  transitions 
from  one  to  the  other. 

FORCE 

One  of  the  common  errors  in  conversation,  reading 
and  speaking  is  the  abuse  of  force.  Some  people 
talk  so  loudly,  as  a  matter  of  habit,  that  they  attract 
the  attention  of  others  than  those  for  whom  their 
remarks  are  intended ;  some  speak  in  a  tone  so  low 


Practice  133 

that  their  listeners  find  difficulty  in  hearing  them. 
It  is  best  to  accustom  one's  self  to  utterance  with 
normal  force  that  will  neither  place  extra  work  on 
the  vocal  organs  of  the  speaker  nor  on  the  auditory 
organs  of  the  person  or  persons  addressed. 

No  matter  what  force  is  used,  as  has  been  explained 
in  another  part  of  this  book,  it  must  be  employed  in 
conjunction  with  some  particular  quality.  This  is 
because  quality  is  inherent  in  the  sound  of  the  voice. 

The  example  given  in  this  chapter  for  the  practice 
of  normal  quality  can  be  used  also  for  practice  of 
moderate  force. 

The  first  example  given  for  the  practice  of  the  oro- 
tund can  be  used  also  for  the  practice  of  moderate 
force.  The  second  example  given  for  the  practice  of 
the  orotund  can  be  used  also  for  practice  of  energetic 
force. 

Examples  for  practice  of  energetic  force  with 
normal  quality  and  for  the  practice  of  subdued  force 
with  normal  quality  follow. 

SELECTIONS    FOR    PRACTICE 

Energetic  Force  :  — 

i.   And  now  before  the  open  door  — 

The  warrior  priest  had  ordered  so  — 
The  enlisting  trumpet's  sudden  roar 
Rang  through  the  chapel,  o'er  and  o'er. 

Its  long  reverberating  blow, 
So  loud  and  clear,  it  seemed  the  ear 


134  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Of  dusty  death  must  wake  and  hear. 
And  there  the  startling  drum  and  fife 
Fired  the  living  with  fiercer  life ; 
While  overhead,  with  wild  incease, 
Forgetting  its  ancient  toll  of  peace, 

The  great  bell  swung  as  ne'er  before. 
It  seemed  as  it  would  never  cease ; 
And  every  word  its  ardor  flung 
From  off  its  jubilant  iron  tongue 
Was,  "  War  !     War  !     War  !  "  -  T.  B.  Read. 

2.  An  hour  passed  on  ;  —  the  Turk  awoke  ;  — 

That  bright  dream  was  his  last ;  — 
He  woke  —  to  hear  his  sentry's  shriek, 
"To  arms!   they  come!     The  Greek!     The 

Greek!" 

He  woke  —  to  die,  midst  flame  and  smoke, 
And  shout,  and  groan,  and  saber  stroke, 

And  death  shots  falling  thick  and  fast 
As  lightnings  from  the  mountain  cloud; 
And  heard,  with  voice  as  trumpet  loud, 

Bozzaris  cheer  his  band  ;  — 
"  Strike  —  till  the  last  armed  foe  expires  ! 
Strike  —  for  your  altars  and  your  fires  ! 
Strike  —  for  the  green  graves  of  your  sires ! 

God,  and  your  native  land !  "  —Hatteck. 

3.  The  combat  deepens  !     On,  ye  brave, 
Who  rush  to  Glory,  or  the  Grave ! 
Wave,  Munich,  all  thy  banners  wave ! 

And  charge  with  all  thy  chivalry ! 


Practice  135 

Ah,  few  shall  part  where  many  meet ! 
The  snow  shall  be  their  winding  sheet ; 
And  every  turf  beneath  their  feet 

Shall  be  a  soldier's  sepulcher  !  —  Campbell. 

4.    They  strike !     Hurrah !  the  fort  had  surren- 
dered ! 

Shout,  shout,  my  warrior  boy, 
And  wave  your  cap,  and  clap  your  hands  for 

joy! 

Cheer  answers  cheer,  and  bear  the  cheer  about. 
Hurrah,  hurrah,  for  the  fiery  fort  is  ours  ! 
"  Victory,  victory,  victory  !  "  —  Wilson. 

Subdued  Force :  — 

THE  BALLAD  OF  BABIE  BELL 

Have  you  not  heard  the  poets  tell 
How  came  the  dainty  Babie  Bell 

Into  this  world  of  ours  ? 
The  gates  of  heaven  were  left  ajar; 
With  folded  hands  and  dreamy  eyes, 
Wandering  out  of  Paradise, 
She  saw  this  planet,  like  a  star, 

Hung  in  the  glistening  depths  of  even,  — 
Its  bridges  running  to  and  fro, 
O'er  which  the  white-winged  angels  go, 

Bearing  the  holy  dead  to  heaven. 
She  touched  a  bridge  of  flowers,  —  those  feet, 
So  light  they  did  not  bend  the  bells 
Of  the  celestial  asphodels ! 


136  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

They  fell  like  dew  upon  the  flowers, 
Then  all  the  air  grew  strangely  sweet  — 
And  thus  came  dainty  Babie  Bell 

Into  this  world  of  ours. 
She  came  and  brought  delicious  May, 

The  swallows  built  beneath  the  eaves ; 

Like  sunlight  in  and  out  the  leaves, 
The  robins  went  the  livelong  day ; 
The  lily  swung  its  noiseless  bell, 

And  o'er  the  porch  the  trembling  vine, 

Seemed  bursting  with  its  veins  of  wine. 
How  sweetly,  softly,  twilight  fell ! 
Oh,  earth  was  full  of  singing  birds, 
And  opening  spring-tide  flowers, 
When  the  dainty  Babie  Bell 

Came  to  this  world  of  ours. 

O  Babie,  dainty  Babie  Bell, 

How  fair  she  grew  from  day  to  day ! 

What  woman  nature  filled  her  eyes, 

What  poetry  within  them  lay  ! 

Those  deep  and  tender  twilight  eyes, 
So  full  of  meaning,  pure  and  bright, 
As  if  she  yet  stood  in  the  light 

Of  those  oped  gates  of  Paradise. 

And  so  we  loved  her  more  and  more. 

Ah,  never  in  our  hearts  before 
Was  love  so  lovely  born : 

We  felt  we  had  a  link  between 

This  real  world  and  that  unseen  — 


Practice  137 

The  land  beyond  the  morn. 
And  for  the  love  of  those  dear  eyes, 
For  love  of  her  whom  God  led  forth 
(The  mother's  being  ceased  on  earth 
When  Babie  came  from  Paradise),  — 
For  love  of  Him  who  smote  our  lives, 

And  woke  the  chords  of  joy  and  pain, 
We  said,  dear  Christ  —  our  hearts  bent  down 

Like  violets  after  rain. 

And  now  the  orchards,  which  were  white, 
And  red  with  blossoms  when  she  came, 
Were  rich  in  autumn's  mellow  prime. 
The  clustered  apples  burnt  like  flame, 
The  soft-cheeked  peaches  blushed  and  fell, 
The  ivory  chestnut  burst  its  shell, 
The  grapes  hung  purpling  in  the  grange; 
And  time  wrought  just  as  rich  a  change 

In  little  Babie  Bell. 
Her  lissome  form  more  perfect  grew, 

And  in  her  features  we  could  trace, 

In  softened  curves,  her  mother's  face. 
Her  angel  nature  ripened,  too. 
We  thought  her  lovely  when  she  came 
But  she  was  holy,  saintly  now  : 
Around  her  pale,  angelic  brow 
We  saw  a  slender  ring  of  flame. 
God's  hand  had  taken  away  the  seal 

That  held  the  portals  of  her  speech ; 
And  oft  she  said  a  few  strange  words 


138  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Whose  meaning  lay  beyond  our  reach. 
She  never  was  a  child  to  us, 
We  never  held  her  being's  key, 
We  could  not  teach  her  holy  things ; 

She  was  Christ's  self  in  purity. 
It  came  upon  us  by  degrees : 
We  saw  its  shadow  ere  it  fell, 
The  knowledge  that  our  God  had  sent 
His  messenger  for  Babie  Bell, 
We  shuddered  with  unlanguaged  pain, 
And  all  our  hopes  were  changed  to  fears, 
And  all  our  thoughts  ran  into  tears 

Like  sunshine  into  rain. 
We  cried  aloud  in  our  belief, 
"  Oh,  smite  us  gently,  gently,  God  ! 
Teach  us  to  bend  and  kiss  the  rod, 
And  perfect  grow  through  grief." 
Ah,  how  we  loved  her,  God  can  tell 
Her  heart  was  folded  deep  in  ours. 

Our  hearts  are  broken,  Babie  Bell ! 

At  last  he  came,  the  messenger, 

The  messenger  from  unseen  lands :   ' 
And  what  did  dainty  Babie  Bell  ? 
She  only  crossed  her  little  hands, 
She  only  looked  more  meek  and  fair. 
We  parted  back  her  silken  hair, 
We  wove  the  roses  round  her  brow,  — 
White  buds,  the  summer's  drifted  snow,  — 
Wrapt  her  from  head  to  foot  in  flowers; 


Practice  1 39 


And  then  went  dainty  Babie  Bell 
Out  of  this  world  of  ours  !  —  Aldrich. 


THE    TRAGEDY 

"  La  Dame  aux  Camelias," 

I  think  that  was  the  play  ; 
The  house  was  packed  from  pit  to  dome 

With  the  gallant  and  the  gay, 
Who  had  come  to  see  the  tragedy, 

And  while  the  hours  away. 

There  was  the  ruined  spendthrift, 

And  beauty  in  her  prime  ; 
There  was  the  grave  historian, 

And  the  man  of  rhyme, 
And  the  surly  critic,  front  to  front, 

To  see  the  play  of  crime. 

And  there  was  pompous  ignorance, 

And  vice  in  flowers  and  lace  ; 
Sir  Croesus  and  Sir  Pandarus, 

And  the  music  played  apace. 
But  of  all  the  crowd  I  only  saw 

A  single,  single  face  ! 

That  of  a  girl  whom  I  had  known 

In  the  summers  long  ago, 
When  her  breath  was  like  the  new-mown  hay, 

Or  the  sweetest  flowers  that  grow  ; 
When  her  heart  was  light  and  her  soul  was  white 

As  the  winter's  driven  snow. 


140  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

And  there  she  sat  with  her  great  brown  eyes, 

They  wore  a  troubled  look  ; 
And  I  read  the  history  of  her  life 

As  it  were  an  open  book ; 
And  saw  her  soul,  like  a  slimy  thing 

In  the  bottom  of  a  brook. 

There  she  sat  in  her  rustling  silk, 

With  diamonds  on  her  wrist, 
And  on  her  brow  a  gleaming  thread 

Of  pearl  and  amethyst. 
"  A  cheat,  a  gilded  grief  !  "  I  said, 

And  my  eyes  filled  with  mist. 

I  could  not  see  the  players  play, 

I  heard  the  music  moan  ; 
It  moaned  like  dismal  autumn  wind, 

That  dies  in  the  woods  alone ; 
And  when  it  stopped  I  heard  it  still, 

The  mournful  monotone  ! 

What  if  the  Count  were  true  or  false, 

I  did  not  care,  not  I  ; 
What  if  Camille  for  Armand  died  ? 

I  did  not  see  her  die. 
There  sat  a  woman  opposite 

With  piteous  lip  and  eye. 

The  great  green  curtain  fell  on  all, 

On  laugh,  and  wine  and  woe, 
Just  as  death  some  day  will  fall 


Practice  141 

'Twixt  us  and  life,  I  know. 
The  play  was  4one,  the  bitter  play, 
And  the  people  turned  to  go. 

And  did  they  see  the  tragedy  ? 

They  saw  the  painted  scene ; 
They  saw  Armand,  the  jealous  fool, 

And  the  sick  Parisian  queen  ; 
But  they  did  not  see  the  tragedy  — 

The  one  I  saw,  I  mean  ! 

They  did  not  see  that  cold  cut  face, 

That  furtive  look  of  care ; 
Or,  seeing  her  jewels,  only  said, 

"  The  lady's  rich  and  fair." 
But  I  tell  you,  'twas  the  Play  of  Life, 

And  that  woman  played  Despair.  —  Aldrich. 

PITCH  AND  RATE 

It  is  not  necessary  to  give  examples  for  the  prac- 
tice of  pitch  and  rate,  because  high  pitch  and  rapid 
rate  are  generally  associated  with  energetic  force, 
and  low  pitch  and  slow  rate  with  subdued  force. 
The  normal,  in  all  properties,  are,  of  course,  always 
associated.  For  that  reason  the  examples  are  suffi- 
cient for  practice. 


CHAPTER   VIII 
DIFFICULT  SENTENCES 

OCCASIONALLY  the  speaker  or  reader  is  obliged  to 
deliver  a  sentence  which  is  difficult  because  of  faulty 
construction,  involved  or  obscure  thought,  or  faulty 
punctuation.  Such  sentences  occur  in  the  writings  or 
speeches  of  even  the  best  authors.  But  since  they 
must  be  delivered,  they  present  a  problem  with  which 
the  student  has  to  cope.  For  the  purpose  of  affording 
opportunity  for  the  practice  of  such  sentences  the 
authors  have  selected  a  number  of  them  from  the 
writings  and  addresses  of  the  best  authorities  in  Eng- 
lish and  grouped  them  together  in  this  chapter.  No 
effort  has  been  made  to  select  specimens  of  excellent 
English  —  only  sentences  which,  for  one  reason  or 
another,  are  difficult  to  deliver  intelligently,  intelli- 
gibly and  correctly. 

The  difficulty  of  delivery  is  magnified,  in  many  of 
these  sentences,  by  peculiarities  of  punctuation ;  in 
many  instances  by  punctuation  which  is  absolutely 
incorrect.  In  some  the  comma  is  used  where  a  semi- 
colon should  appear;  in  others  the  semicolon  takes 
the  place  of  the  period  or  the  comma,  or  the  period 
the  place  of  the  semicolon.  These  mistakes  lead 
to  the  use  of  the  bend  where  the  partial  fall  should 

142 


Difficult  Sentences  143 

occur,  of  the  partial  fall  where  the  bend  should  occur, 
or  of  the  perfect  fall  where  the  partial  fall  should 
occur. 

The  peculiarities  and  the  incorrectness  of  punctua- 
tion compel  a  careful  analysis  of  the  sentence  so  that 
the  reader  can  obtain  a  correct  apprehension  of  its 
thought  content,  but  when  such  analysis  has  been 
made  the  student  will  find  little  difficulty  in  deliver- 
ing it  correctly.  For  this  reason  the  student  should 
analyze  each  sentence  before  endeavoring  to  deliver 
it,  and  should  so  study  it  that  he  shall  become  master 
of  its  meaning. 

Thorough  practice  of  the  sentences  given  here  will 
so  minimize  the  difficulties  of  ordinary  sentences  that 
they  will  present  no  material  obstacle  to  the  pains- 
taking pupil. 

1.  Of  the  great  men  by  whom  he  had  been  dis- 
tinguished at  his  entrance  into  life,  some  had  been 
taken  away  from  the  evil  to  come,  some  had  carried 
into  foreign  climates  their  hatred  of  oppression,  some 
were  pining  in  dungeons,  and  some  had  poured  forth 
their  blood  on  scaffolds.  —  Macaulay. 

2.  He  further  added,  that  my  paper  would  only 
serve  to  aggravate  the  pains  of  poverty,  if  it  chiefly 
exposed  those  who    are   already    depressed,    and   in 
some  measure  turned  into  ridicule,  by  the  meanness 
of  their  conditions  and  circumstances.  —  Addison. 

3.  He  has  not  gone  back,   much  less  carried   us 
back,  into  that  dark,  earnest,  wondering  age,  when 


144  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

the  tradition  was  believed,  and  when  it  took  its  rise ; 
he  does  not  attempt,  by  any  new-modeling  of  his 
supernatural  ware,  to  strike  anew  that  deep,  mysteri- 
ous chord  of  human  nature,  which  once  responded  to 
such  things ;  and  which  lives  in  us  too,  and  will  for- 
ever live,  though  silent  now,  or  vibrating  with  far 
other  notes,  and  to  far  different  issues.  —  Carlyle. 

4.  True,  we  have  songs  enough  "by  persons    of 
quality,"  we  have  tawdry,  hollow,  wine-bred  madrigals, 
many  a  rhymed  speech  "  in  the  flowing  and  watery 
vein  of  Ossorius  the  Portugal  Bishop,"  rich  in  sono- 
rous words,  and,  for  moral  dashed  perhaps  with  some 
tint   of    a   sentimental    sensuality,    all    which    many 
persons  cease  not  from  endeavoring  to  sing ;  though 
for  most  part,  we  fear,  the  music  is  from  the  throat 
outwards,  or  at  best  from   some  region  far  enough 
from  the  Soul  not  in  which,  but  in  a  certain  inane 
Limbo  of  the  Fancy,  or  even  in  some  vaporous  debat- 
able-land on  the    outskirts  of  the   Nervous  System, 
most  of  such  madrigals  and  rhymed  speeches  seem 
to  have  originated.  —  Carlyle. 

5.  De  Grantmesnil's  horse,  which  was  young  and 
violent,  reared   and    plunged   in    the    course   of   the 
career   so    as    to    disturb    the   rider's    aim,    and   the 
stranger,   declining    to   take    the    advantage   which 
this  accident  afforded  him,  raised  his  lance,  and  pass- 
ing his  antagonist  without  touching  him,  wheeled  his 
horse  and  rode  back  again  to  his  own  end  of  the  lists, 
offering  his  antagonist,  by  a  herald,  the  chance  of  a 
second  encounter.- —  Scott. 


Difficult  Sentences  145 

6.  When  we  have  once  known  Rome  and  left  her 
where  she  lies,  like  a  long-decaying  corpse,  retaining 
a  trace  of  the  noble  shape  it  was,  but  with  accumulated 
dust  and  fungus  growth  overspreading  all  its  more 
admirable  features,  —  left  her  in  utter  weariness,  no 
doubt,  of  her  narrow,  crooked,  intricate  streets,  so 
uncomfortably  paved  with  little  squares  of  lava  that 
to  tread  over  them  is  a  penitential  pilgrimage,  so  in- 
describably ugly,  moreover,  so  cold,  so  alley-like,  into 
which  the  sun  never  falls,  and  where  a  chill  wind 
forces  its  deadly  breath  into  our  lungs,  —  left  her, 
tired  of  the  sight  of  those  immense  seven-storied, 
yellow-washed  hovels,  or  call  them  palaces,  where  all 
that  is  dreary  in  domestic  life  seems  magnified  and 
multiplied,  and  weary  of  climbing  those  staircases, 
which  ascend  from  a  ground  floor  of  cook-shops, 
cobblers'  stalls,  stables,  and  regiments  of  cavalry,  to 
a  middle  region  of  princes,  cardinals,  and  ambassadors 
and  an  upper  tier  of  artists,  just  beneath  the  unattain- 
able sky, —  left  her  worn  out  with  shivering  at  the 
cheerless  and  smoky  fireside  by  day,  and  feasting 
with  our  own  substance  the  ravenous  little  populace 
of  a  Roman  bed  at  night,  —  left  her,  sick  at  heart  of 
Italian  trickery,  which  has  uprooted  whatever  faith 
in  man's  integrity  had  endured  till  now,  and  sick  at 
stomach  of  sour  bread,  sour  wine,  rancid  butter,  and 
bad  cookery  needlessly  bestowed  upon  evil  meats,  — 
left  her,  disgusted  with  the  pretense  of  holiness  and 
the  reality  of  nastiness,  each  equally  omnipresent,  — 
left  her,  half  lifeless  from  the  languid  atmosphere, 


146  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

the  vital  principle  of  which  has  been  used  up  long 
ago,  or  corrupted  by  myriads  of  slaughters,  —  left 
her,  crushed  down  in  spirit  with  the  desolation  of  her 
ruin,  and  the  hopelessness  of  her  future, — left 
her,  in  short,  hating  her  with  all  our  might,  and  add- 
ing our  individual  curse  to  the  infinite  anathema 
which  her  old  crimes  unmistakably  brought  down,  — 
when  we  have  left  Rome  in  such  mood  as  this,  we  are 
astonished  by  the  discovery,  by  and  by,  that  our  heart- 
strings have  mysteriously  attached  themselves  to  the 
Eternal  City,  and  are  drawing  us  thitherward  again,  as 
if  it  were  more  familiar,  more  intimately  our  home 
than  even  the  spot  where  we  were  born. 

—  Hawthorne. 

7.  When  the  house  was  out  of  sight,  I  sat,  with 
the  bird-cage  in  the  straw  at  my  feet,  forward  on  the 
low  seat,  to  look  out  of  the   low  window ;  watching 
the  frosty  trees  that   were    like   beautiful  pieces  of 
spar ;  and  the  fields  all  smooth  and  white  with  last 
night's  snow ;  and   the  sun,  so    red,  but  yielding  so 
little  heart ;  and  the  ice,  dark  like  metal,  where  the 
skaters  and  sliders  had  brushed  the  snow  away. 

—  Dickens. 

8.  Dear,  dear,  to  think  how  much  time  we  passed 
alone  together  afterward,  and  how  often  I  repeated 
to  the  doll  the  story  of  my  birthday,  and  confided  to 
her   that    I  would  try,  as   hard  as  ever  I  could,  to 
repair  the  fault  I  had  been  born  with   (of  which    I 
confessedly  felt  guilty  and  yet  innocent),  and  arrive 
as  I  grew  up  to  be  industrious,  contented,  and  kind- 


Difficjilt  Sentences  147 

hearted,  and  to  do  some  good  to  some  one,  and  win 
some  love  to  myself  if  I  could.  —  Dickens. 

.9.  There  was  the  honest  cock-robin,  the  favorite 
game  of  stripling  sportsmen,  with  its  loud  querulous 
note;  and  the  twittering  blackbirds  flying  in  sable 
clouds  ;  and  the  golden-winged  woodpecker,  with  his 
crimson  crest,  his  broad  black  gorget  and  splendid 
plumage ;  and  the  cedar-bird,  with  its  red-tipped 
wings  and  yellow-tipped  tail,  and  its  little  monteiro 
cap  of  feathers  ;  and  the  blue  jay,  that  noisy  coxcomb, 
in  his  gay  light-blue  coat  and  white  under-clothes, 
screaming  and  chattering,  nodding  and  bobbing  and 
bowing,  and  pretending  to  be  on  good  terms  with 
every  songster  of  the  grove.  — Irving. 

10.  But  thine  are  fancies  hatch'd 
In  silken  folded  idleness ;  nor  is  it 

Wiser  to  weep  a  true  occasion  lost, 
But  trim  our  sails,  and  let  old  bygones  be, 
While  down  the  streams  that  float  us  each  and  all 
To  the  issue,  goes,  like  glittering  bergs  of  ice, 
Throne  after  throne,  and  molten  on  the  waste, 
Becomes  a  cloud.  —  Tennyson. 

11.  This  state  of  things  I  have  thought  it  neces- 
sary   to  premise  for  the  information  of  the  general 
reader,  who  might  be  apt  to  forget,  that,  although  no 
great  historical  events,  such  as  war  or  insurrection, 
mark  the  existence  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  as  a  sepa- 
rate people  subsequent  to  the  reign  of  William  the 


148  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Second  ;  yet  the  great  national  distinctions  betwixt 
them  and  their  conquerors,  the  recollection  of  what 
they  had  formerly  been,  and  to  what  they  were  now 
reduced,  continued  down  to  the  reign  of  Edward  the 
Third,  to  keep  open  the  wounds  which  the  Conquest 
had  inflicted,  and  to  maintain  a  line  of  separation 
betwixt  the  descendants  of  the  victor  Normans  and 
the  vanquished  Saxons.  —  Scott. 

12,  When  the  fight  became  visible,  half  the  itaights 
on  each  side  were  dismounted,  some  by  the  dexterity 
of  their  adversary's   lance,  —  some  by  the  superior 
weight  and  strength  of  opponents,  which  had  borne 
down  both  horse  and  man,  —  some  lay  stretched  on 
earth  as  if  never  more  to  rise,  —  some  had  already 
gained  their  feet,  and  were  closing  hand  to  hand  with 
those    of   their   antagonists  who   were   in   the  same 
predicament,  —  and  several  on  both  sides,  who  had 
received  wounds  by  which  they  were  disabled,  were 
stopping  their  blood  with  their  scarfs,  and  endeavor- 
ing to  extricate  themselves  from  the  tumult.  —  Scott. 

13.  So  his  mother  told  him  a  story  that  her  own 
mother  had  told  to  her,  when  she  herself  was  younger 
than  little  Ernest ;  a  story,  not  of  things  that  were 
past,  but  of  what  was  yet  to  come  ;  a  story,  never- 
theless,   so   very    old,    that    even   the    Indians   who 
formerly  inhabited  this  valley  had  heard  it  from  their 
forefathers,  to  whom,  as  they  affirmed,  it  had  been 
murmured  by  the  mountain  streams,  and  whispered 
by  the  wind  among  the  tree-tops.  —  Hawthorne. 


Difficult  Sentences  149 

14.  Let  our  poets   look  to   this  :  is    their  feeling 
really  finer,  truer,  and  their  vision  deeper  than  that 
of  other  men,  —  they  have  nothing  to  fear,  even  from 
the    humblest    subject;    is    it   not    so, — they    have 
nothing  to  hope,  but  an  ephemeral  favor,  even  from 
the  highest.  —  Carlyle. 

15.  Has  life  no  meanings  for  him  which  another 
cannot  equally   decipher ;  then    he   is  no  poet,  and 
Delphi  itself  will  not  make  him  one.  —  Carlyle. 

1 6.  He  has  not  gone  back,  much  less  carried  us 
back,  into  that  dark,  earnest,  wondering  age,  when 
the   tradition  was  believed,   and  when  it  took  rise  ; 
he  does  not  attempt,  by  any  remodeling  of  his  super- 
natural ware,  to  strike  anew  that   deep,  mysterious 
chord   of  human   nature,   which   once  responded  to 
such   things ;    and    which   lives  in    us;  too,  and  will 
forever  live,  though  silent  now,  or  vibrating  far  other 
notes,  and  to  far  different  issues.  —  Carlyle. 

1 7.  Let  this  sad  tale  of  death  never  be  told  with- 
out a  tear  ;  let  not  the  heaving  bosom  cease  to  burn 
with    a    manly    indignation    at   the   barbarous    story 
through   the    long  tracts  of  future  time ;    let   every 
parent  tell  the  shameful  story  to  his  listening  chil 
dren,  until  tears   of   pity  glisten    in  their  eyes  and 
boiling    passions    shake   their   tender  frames ;    and 
whilst  the  anniversary  of  that  ill-fated  night  is  kept 
a  jubilee  in  the  grim  court  of  pandemonium,  let  all 
America  join  in  one  common  prayer  to  heaven,  that 


150  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

the  inhuman,  unprovoked  murders  on  the  fifth  of 
March,  1770,  planned  by  Hillsborough  and  a  knot  of 
treacherous  knaves  in  Boston,  and  executed  by  the 
cruel  hand  of  Preston  and  his  sanguinary  coadjutors, 
may  ever  stand  in  history  without  a  parallel. 
—  Hancock. 

1 8.  My  colleague  in  poetic  emperorhood, 

I  deem  it  best  that  we  discourse  in  rhyme; 
In  the  set  sonnet  of  the  olden  time ; 
Miltonic  sonnet ;  for  'tis  well  and  good, 
That  we,  who  might  surpass  him  if  we  would 
(Our  predecessors  o'er  him  used  to  climb), 
Should  let  our  strains  his  modest  voice  o'er- 

chime ; 

Though  we  ourselves  are  still  misunderstood, 
Excepting  by  ourselves  and  by  each  other, 
And  people  will  not  read  the  things  we  write, 
Unless  we  ask  them  to  —  a  precious  bother!  — 
Yet  we  in  criticism  can  vent  some  spite, 
And  rivals'  praise  with  our  venom  smother. 
So  ope  these  efforts  to  our  suffering  sight. 

—  Carleton. 

19.  Of  man's  first  disobedience,  and  the  fruit 
Of  that  forbidden  tree,  whose  mortal  taste 
Brought  death  into  the  world,  and  all  our  woe, 
With  loss  of  Eden,  till  one  great  Man 
Restore  us,  and  again  the  blissful  seat, 

Sing,  Heavenly  Muse,  that  on  the  secret  top 
Of  Oreb,  or  of  Sinai,  didst  inspire 


Difficult  Sentences  151 

That  shepherd  who  first  taught  the   chosen 

seed 

In  the  beginning  how  the  Heavens  and  Earth 
Rose  out  of  Chaos  :  or,  if  Sion  hill 
Delight   thee   more,    and    Siloa's   brook    that 

flowed 

Fast  by  the  oracle  of  God,  I  thence 
Invoke  thy  aid  to  my  adventurous  song, 
That  with  no  middle  flight  intends  to  soar 
Above  the  Aonian  mount,  while  it  pursues 
Things  unattempted  yet  in  prose  or  rhyme. 

—  Milton. 

20.  "  To  the  man  who'll  bring  to  me," 
Cried  Intendant  Harry  Lee, — 

Harry  Lee,  the  English  foreman  of  the  mine,— 

"  Bring  the  sot  alive  or  dead, 

I  will  give  to  him,"  he  said, 

"  Fifteen  hundred  pesos  down, 

Just  to  set  the  rascal's  crown 

Underneath  this  heel  of  mine  : 

Since  but  death 
Deserves  the  man  whose  deed, 
Be  it  vice  of  want  of  heed, 
Stops  the  pumps  that  give  us  breath,  — 
Stops  the  pumps  that  suck  the  death 
From  the  poisoned  lower  levels  of  the  mine!" 

—  Bret  Harte. 

21.  From  them  let  us,  my  friends,  take  example; 
from   them  let  us  catch  the  divine  enthusiasm,  and 
feel,  each  for  himself,  the  godlike  pleasure  of  diffus- 


152  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

ing  happiness  on  all  around  us ;  of  delivering  the 
oppressed  from  the  iron  grasp  of  tyranny ;  of  chang- 
ing the  hoarse  complaints  and  bitter  moans  of  wretched 
slaves  into  those  cheerful  songs  which  freedom  and 
contentment  must  inspire.  — Hancock. 

22.  Then  resuming  his  task,  he  went  on  — "  I, 
Gurth,  the  son  of  Beowulph,  swineherd,  unto  the 
said  Cedric,  with  the  assistance  of  our  allies  and  con- 
federates, who  make  common  cause  with  us  in  this 
our  feud,  namely,  the  good  knight,  called  for  the 
present  Le  Noir  Faineant,  and  the  stout  yeoman, 
Robert  Locksley,  called  Cleave-the-Wand,  to  you 
Reginald  Front-de-Boeuf,  and  your  allies  and  accom- 
plices whomsoever,  to  wit,  that  whereas  you  have, 
without  cause  given  or  feud  declared,  wrongfully  and 
by  mastery  seized  upon  the  person  of  our  lord  and 
master  the  said  Cedric ;  also  upon  the  person  of  a 
noble  and  freeborn  damsel,  the  Lady  Rowena  of 
Hargottstandstede ;  also  upon  the  person  of  a  noble 
and  freeborn  man,  Athelstane  of  Coningsburgh  ;  also, 
upon  the  persons  of  certain  freeborn  men,  their 
cnichts ;  also  upon  certain  serfs,  their  born  bonds- 
men ;  also  upon  a  certain  Jew,  named  Isaac  of  York, 
together  with  his  daughter,  a  Jewess,  and  certain 
horses  and  mules ;  which  noble  persons,  with  their 
cnichts  and  slaves,  and  also  with  the  horses  and 
mules,  Jew  and  Jewess  beforesaid,  were  all  in  peace 
with  his  Majesty,  and  traveling  as  liege  subjects 
upon  the  king's  highway ;  therefore  we  require  and 


Difficult  Sentences      .  153 

demand  that  the  said  noble  persons,  namely,  Cedric 
of  Rotherwood,  Rowena  of  Hargottstandstede,  Athel- 
stane  of  Coningsburgh,  with  their  servants,  cnichts, 
and  followers,  also  the  horses  and  mules,  Jew  and 
Jewess  aforesaid,  together  with  all  goods  and  chattels 
to  them  pertaining,  be,  within  an  hour  after  the  de- 
livery hereof,  delivered  to  us,  or  to  those  whom  we 
shall  appoint  to  receive  the  same,  and  that  untouched 
and  unharmed  in  body  and  goods."  — Scott. 

23.  His  eldest  son,  the  Duke   of    Burgundy,  de- 
vout, austere,  and  capable,  the  hope  of  good  men  and 
the  terror  of  intriguers,  had  taken  the  rank  of  dau- 
phin, and  was  seriously  commencing  his  apprentice- 
ship in  government,  when  he  was  carried  off  on  the 
1 8th  of    February,   1712,  by  spotted  fever,  six  days 
after  his  wife,  the  charming  Mary  Adelaide  of  Savoy, 
the  idol  of   the  whole  court,  supremely  beloved  by 
the  king,  and  by  Madame  de  Maintenon,  who  had 
brought   her   up ;    their  son,  the  Duke  of    Brittany, 
four  years  old,  died  on  the  8th  of  March ;  a  child  in 
the  cradle,  weakly  and  ill,  the  little  Duke  of  Anjou, 
remained  the  only  shoot  of  the  elder  branch  of  the 
Bourbons.  —  Guizot. 

24.  Before  following  him  however  from  the  shades 
of    Kilroot  and  the  elegant  seclusion  of   Moor-park, 
into  that  active  world  where  his  genius  shone  with 
unrivaled  splendor,  it  becomes  (so   soon   again)  the 
writer's  painful  duty  to  set  at  rest  another  of  those 
absurd  and  calumnious  falsehoods,  invented  doubtless 


154  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

long  after  the  period  to  which  it  is  referred,  by  some 
of  his  humbled  and  perhaps  titled  adversaries,  writh- 
ing under  the  infliction  of  some  of  his  keen  satiric 
truths,  and,  unable  to  meet  him  in  the  field  of  manly 
argument,  trying  to  arrest  his  fierce  pursuit,  like  cer- 
tain animals  whose  last  chance  of  escape  lies  in  ex- 
citing extreme  disgust  and  nausea  in  their  conquerors  ; 
and  it  is  a  curious  fact  that,  with  regard  to  Steel's 
baseness  and  ingratitude,  Swift  actually  declared  that 
by  his  shameless  and  impudent  proceedings  he  had 
quite  put  it  out  of  his  (Swift's)  power  to  do  him  any 
injury.  —  Thomas  Roscoe. 

25.  For  while  every  other  affection  finds  and  rests 
in  its  appropriate  object,  which  fully  satisfies  and  fills 
it,  the  desire  of  unlimited  improvement  and  of  end- 
less  life  —  the  strongest  and  best-defined  of  any  of 
the  desires  —  this  alone  is  answered  by  no  correspond- 
ing object;  which  is  not  different  from  what  it  would 
be,  if  the  gods  should  create  a  race  like  ours,  having 
the  same  craving  and  necessity  for  food  and  drink, 
yet  never  provide  for  them  the  one  nor  the  other,  but 
leave  them  all  to  die  of  hunger.  —  William  Ware. 

26.  Yet  if  it  be  true,  that  the  sentiment  of  compas- 
sion   is   imperceptibly   weakened   by   the   sight   and 
practice   of   domestic  cruelty,  we  may  observe,  that 
the  horrid  objects  which  are  disguised  by  the  arts  of 
European    refinement,  are   exhibited  in   their  naked 
and  most  disgusting  simplicity  in  the  tent  of  a  Tar- 
tarian shepherd.  —  Gibbons. 


Difficult  Sentences  1 55 

27.  Both  were  alike  impatient  to  engage ;  but  the 
Barbarians,  after  a  slight  resistance,  fled  in  disorder ; 
unable  to  resist,  or  desirous  to  weary,  the  strength 
of   the   heavy  legions,  who,  fainting  with    heat  and 
thirst,   pursued   them    across   the    plain,   and  cut  in 
pieces  a  line  of  cavalry,  clothed  in  complete  armor, 
which  had  been  posted  before  the  gates  of  the  camp 
to^protect  their  retreat.  —  Gibbons. 

28.  The    same    high    power   of    reason,   intent   in 
every  one  to  explore  and  display  some  truth  ;  some 
truth  of  judicial,  or  historical,  or  biographical  fact; 
some  truth  of  law,  deduced  by  construction,  perhaps, 
or  by  illation ;  some  truth  of  policy,  for  want  whereof 
a  nation,   generations,  may  be  the  worse ;  —  reason 
seeking  and  unfolding  truth ;  the  same  tone,  in  all,  of 
deep  earnestness,   expressive   of   strong    desire   that 
that  which  he  felt  to  be  important  should  be  accepted 
as  true,  and  spring  up    to  action ;    the    same   trans- 
parent, plain,  forcible,  and  direct  speech,  conveying 
his  exact  thought  to  the  mind,  —  not  something  less 
or  more ;  the  sovereignty  of  form,  of  brow,  and  eye, 
and  tone,  and  manner, — everywhere  the  intellectual 
king  of  men  standing  before  you ;  that  same  marvel- 
ousness  of  qualities  and  results,  residing,  I  know  not 
where,  in  words,  in  pictures,  in  the  order  of  ideas,  in 
felicities   indescribable ;    by  means  whereof,   coming 
from   his  tongue,   all  things  seemed    mended,    truth 
seemed  more  true,  probability  more  plausible,  great- 
ness more  grand,  goodness  more  awful,  every  affec- 


156  The  Principles  of  'Oral  English 

tion   more   tender    than    when    coming   from    other 
tongues;  —  these  are,  in  all,  his  eloquence. 

—  Rufus  Choate. 

29.  But  whilst  they  acknowledged  the  general  ad- 
vantages of   religion,  they  were  convinced  that  the 
various    modes   of  worship  contributed   alike  to  the 
same  salutary  purposes ;  and  that,  in  every  country, 
the   form    of    superstition,    which    has   received    the 
sanction  of  time  and  experience,  was  the  best  adapted 
to  the  climate,  and  to  its  inhabitants.  —  Gibbons. 

30.  In  the  center  of  a  broad  valley,  which,  full  of 
Eden  perfumes  and  rhythms,  is  set  round  with  moun- 
tains, up  whose  sides  wander  herbage  and  blossoms ; 
succeeded  by  shaggy  cedars,  creeping  to  the  edge  of 
the  snow ;  until  finally  the  eye  rests  on  the  clouds, 
who,  eagerly  watching,  are  fast  anchored  on  the  sum- 
mits. —  F.  D.  Seward. 

31.  From   that  chair  the  Pope    now  rose,  as  the 
reading   of   the    Gospel   ended,  advanced    to    where 
Charles  —  who    had  exchanged  his  simple  Franklin 
dress  for  sandals  and  the  chlamys  of  a  Roman  patri- 
cian —  knelt  in  prayer  by  the  high  altar,  and  as  in  the 
sight  of  all  he  placed  upon  the  brow  of  the  barbarian 
chieftain    the  diadem    of   the  Caesars,  then    bent   in 
obeisance  before  him,  the  church  rang  to  the  shout 
of  the  multitude,  again  free,  again  the  lords  and  cen- 
ter of  the  world,  "  Karolo  Augusto  a  Deo  coronato 
tnagno  et  pacifico  imperatori  vita  et  victoria." 

—  Bryce. 


Difficult  Sentences  157 

32.  It  is  worthy  of  observation  that  all  the  lands 
And  possessions  and  revenues  of  England  had  a  little 
before  this  period  been  rated  at  four  millions  a  year ; 
so  that  the  revenue  of  the  monks,  even  comprehend- 
ing the  lesser  monasteries,  did  not  exceed  the  twen- 
tieth   part   of   the   national    income :    a   sum   vastly 
inferior  to  what  is  commonly  apprehended.  —  Hume. 

33.  How  often  have  we  seen  some  such  adventur- 
ous, and  perhaps  much-censured  wanderer  light  on 
some    outlying,    neglected,    yet    vitally   momentous 
province ;  the  hidden  treasures  of  which  he  first  dis- 
covered, and  kept  proclaiming  till  the  general  eye  and 
effort  were  directed  thither,  and  the  contest  was  com- 
pleted ;  —  thereby,  in  these  his  seemingly  so  aimless 
rambles,  planting  new  standards,  founding  new  habit- 
able  colonies,   in   the    immeasurable    circumambient 
realm  of  Nothingness  and  Night  ?  —  Carlyle. 

34.  Grateful  they  may  well  be ;  as  generous  illu- 
sions of   friendship ;   as  fair  mementoes  of  bygone 
unions,  of  those  nights  and  suppers  of  the  gods,  when 
lapped  in  the  symphonies  and   harmonies  of    Philo- 
sophic Eloquence,  though  with  baser  accompaniments, 
the  present  Editor  reveled   in   that  feast  of  reason, 
never  since   vouchsafed  him  in  so  full  measure ! 

—  Carlyle. 

35.  Professor  Teufelsdrockh,  at  the  period  of  our 
acquaintance  with  him,  seemed  to  lead  a  quite  still 
and  self-contained  life  :  a  man   devoted  to  the  higher 
Philosophies,  indeed  ;  yet  more  likely,  if  he  published 


158  77ie  Principles  of  Oral  EnglisJi 

at  all,  to  publish  a  refutation  of  Hegel  and  Bardili, 
both  of  whom,  strangely  enough,  he  included  under 
a  common  ban  ;  than  to  descend,  as  he  has  here  done, 
into  the  angry  noisy  Forum,  with  an  Argument  that 
cannot  but  exasperate  and  divide.  —  Carlyle. 

36.  The  secret   of  Man's    Being  is  still   like   the 
Sphinx's  secret :  a  riddle  that  he  cannot  rede  ;  and  for 
ignorance  of  which  he  suffers  death,  the  worst  death, 
a  spiritual.  —  Carlyle. 

37.  But  what  thousand  other  thoughts  unite  there- 
to, if  the  place  has  to  ourselves  been  the  arena  of 
joyful  or  mournful  experiences  ;  if  perhaps  the  cradle 
we  were  rocked  in  still  stands  there,  if  our  Loving 
ones  still  dwell  there,  if  our  Buried  ones  there  slum- 
ber !  —  Carlyle. 

38.  What  more  have  I  to  tell?     That  I  fell  upon 
my  knees  and  with  chattering  teeth    confessed   the 
truth  and  prayed  to  be  forgiven.     That  I  have  since 
denied  and  now  confess  to  it  again.     That  I    have 
been  tried  for  the  crime,  found  guilty,  and  sentenced. 
That  I  have  not  the  courage  to  anticipate  my  doom 
or  to  bear  up  manfully  against  it.     That  I  have  no 
compassion,  no  consolation,  no  hope,  no  friend.     That 
my  wife  has  happily  lost  for  the  time  those  faculties 
which  would  enable  her  to  know  my  misery  or  hers. 
That  I  am  alone  in  this  stone  dungeon  with  my  evil 
spirit,  and  that  I  die  to-morrow  !  — Dickens. 

39.  Here,  too,  would  they  tell  old  legends  of  what 
the  Thames  was  in  ancient  times,  when  the  Patent 


Difficult  Sentences  159 

Shot  Manufactory  wasn't  built,  and  Waterloo-bridge 
had  never  been  thought  of ;  and  then  they  would 
shake  their  heads  with  portentous  looks,  to  the  deep 
edification  of  the  rising  generation  of  heavers,  who 
crowded  around  them,  and  wondered  where  all  this 
would  end ;  whereat  the  tailor  would  take  his  pipe 
solemnly  from  his  mouth,  and  say,  how  that  he  hoped 
it  might  end  well,  but  he  very  much  doubted  whether 
it  would  or  not,  and  couldn't  rightly  tell  what  to  make 
of  it  —  a  mysterious  expression  of  opinion,  delivered 
with  a  semi-prophetic  air,  which  never  failed  to  elicit 
the  fullest  concurrence  of  the  assembled  company  ; 
and  so  they  would  go  on  drinking  and  wondering  till 
ten  o'clock  came,  and  with  it  the  tailor's  wife  to  fetch 
him  home,  when  the  little  party  broke  up,  to  meet 
again  in  the  same  room,  and  say  and  do  precisely  the 
same  things  on  the  following  evening  at  the  same 
hour.  — Dickens. 

40.  There  is  no  need  of  giving  a  special  report  of 
the  conversation  which  now  took  place  between  Mr. 
Sedley  and  the  young  lady  ;  for  the  conversation,  as 
may  be  judged  from  the  foregoing  specimen,  was  not 
specially  witty  or  eloquent;  it  seldom  is  in  private 
societies,  or  anywhere  except  in  very  high-flown  and 
ingenious  novels.  —  Thackeray. 

41.  He  did  not  lie  awake  all  night  thinking  whether 
or  not  he  was  in  love  with  Miss  Sharp ;  the  passion 
of  love   never   interfered   with   the  appetite  or  the 
slumber    of    Mr.  Joseph  Sedley;  but  he  thought  to 


160  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

himself  how  delightful  it  would  be  to  hear  such  songs 
as  those  after  Cutcherry  —  what  a  distinguished  girl 
she  was  —  how  she  could  speak  French  better  than 
the  Governor-General's  lady  herself  —  and  what  a 
sensation  she  would  make  at  the  Calcutta  balls. 

—  Thackeray. 

42.  His  parent  was  a  Grocer  in  the  City;  and  it 
was  bruited  abroad  that  he  was  admitted  into  Dr. 
Swishtail's  academy  upon  what  are  called  "  mutual 
principles  "  —  that  is  to  say,  the  expenses  of  his  board 
and  schooling  were  defrayed  by  his  father  in  goods, 
not  money  ;  and  he  stood  there  —  almost  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  school  —  in  his  scraggy  corduroys  and 
jacket,  through  the  seams  of  which  his  great  big 
bones  were  bursting  —  as  the  representative  of  so 
many  pounds  of  tea,  candles,  sugar,  mottled  soap, 
plums  (of  which  a  very  mild  proportion  was  supplied 
for  the  puddings  of  the  establishment),  and  other 
commodities.  —  Thackeray. 


CHAPTER   IX 
RECITATIONS  AND   DECLAMATIONS 

THE   DEFIANCE   OF   ANTONIUS 

Adapted  from  "  A  Friend  of  Caesar."     By  William  Stearns  Davis. 
Copyright,  1901,  by  The  Macmillan  Company. 

THEN,  of  a  sudden,  like  the  interval  between  the 
recession  of  one  wave  and  the  advance  of  a  second 
billow,  came  a  moment  of  silence ;  and  into  that 
silence  Antonius  broke,  with  a  voice  so  strong,  so 
piercing,  so  resonant,  that  the  most  envenomed 
oligarch  checked  his  clamor  to  give  ear. 

"  Hearken,  ye  Senators  of  the  Republic ;  ye  false 
patres ;  ye  fathers  of  the  people  who  are  no  fathers ! 
So  far  have  we  waited  ;  we  wait  no  more  !  So  much 
have  we  seen  ;  we'll  see  no  further!  So  much  have 
we  endured  —  reproaches,  repulses,  deceits,  insults, 
outrage!  Yes,  for  I  see  it  in  the  Consul's  eye  — 
next  do  we  suffer  violence  itself !  But  that  we  will 
not  tamely  suffer.  Ay !  drive  us  from  our  seats,  as 
Marcus  Cato  bids  you  !  Ay,  strike  our  names  from 
the  Senate  list,  as  Domitius  will  propose !  Ay, 
hound  your  lictors,  Sir  Consul,  after  us,  to  lay  their 
rods  across  our  backs !  Ay !  enforce  your  decree 
proclaiming  martial  law  !  So  have  you  acted  before 
to  give  legal  fiction  to  your  tyranny ! 
M  161 


1 62  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

"  But  tell  me  this,  Senators,  Praetorii,  Consulars, 
and  Consuls  —  where  will  this  mad  violence  end  ? 
Tiberius  Gracchus  you  have  murdered.  Marcus 
Drusus  you  have  murdered.  Ten  thousand  good 
men  has  your  creature  Sull  murdered.  And  now 
will  ye  add  one  more  deed  of  blood  to  those  gone 
before  ?  Will  ye  strike  down  an  inviolate  Tribune, 
in  Rome,  in  the  very  shadow  of  the  Curia?  Ah! 
days  of  the  Decemvirs,  when  an  evil  Ten  ruled  over 
the  state  —  would  that  those  days  might  return ! 
Not  ten  tyrants,  but  a  thousand  oppress  us  now ! 
Then  despotism  wore  no  cloak  of  patriotism  or  legal 
right,  but  walked  unmasked  in  all  its  blackness ! 

"  Hearken,  ye  Senators,  and  in  the  evil  days  to 
come  remember  all  I  say.  Out  of  the  seed  ye  sow 
this  hour  come  wars  —  civil  wars ;  Roman  against 
Roman,  kinsman  against  kinsman,  brother  against 
brother.  There  comes  impiety,  violence,  cruelty, 
bloodshed,  anarchy.  There  comes  the  destruction 
of  the  old ;  there  comes  the  birth,  amid  pain  and 
anguish,  of  the  new.  Ye  who  grasp  at  money,  at 
power,  at  high  office;  who  trample  on  truth  and 
right  to  serve  your  selfish  ends  —  false,  degenerate 
Romans  !  One  thing  can  wipe  away  your  crimes  — 

"  What  ?  "  shouted  Cato  across  the  Senate-House  ; 
while  Pompeius,  who  was  shifting  uneasily  in  his 
seat,  turned  very  red. 

"  Blood ! "  cried  back  Antonius,  carried  away  by 
the  frenzy  of  his  own  invective.  Then,  shooting  a 
lightning  glance  over  the  awestruck  Senate,  he 


Recitations  and  Declamations  163 

spoke  as  though  gifted  with  some  terrible  prophetic 
omniscience  :  — 

"Pompeius  Magnus,  the  day  of  your  prosperity 
is  past  —  prepare  ignominiously  to  die!  Lentulus 
Crus,  you,  too,  shall  pay  the  forfeit  of  your  crimes ! 
Metellus  Scipio,  Marcus  Cato,  Lucius  Domitius, 
within  five  years  you  shall  all  be  dead  —  dead,  and 
with  infamy  upon  your  names.  Your  blood,  your 
blood,  shall  wipe  away  your  folly  and  your  lust  for 
power.  Ye  stay ;  we  go.  Ye  stay  to  pass  once 
more  unvetoed  the  decree  declaring  Caesar  and  his 
friends  enemies  of  the  Republic;  we  go  —  go  to 
endure  our  outlaw  state.  But  we  go  to  appeal  from 
the  unjust  scales  of  your  false  justice  to  the  juster 
sword  of  an  impartial  Mars ;  and  may  the  Furies 
that  haunt  the  lives  of  tyrants  and  shedders  of  inno- 
cent blood  attend  you — attend  your  persons  so  long 
as  ye  are'  doomed  to  live ;  and  your  memory  so  long 
as  men  shall  have  power  to  heap  reproach  upon 
your  names ! " 

DEATH   OF   KING   HAROLD 

Adapted  from  "  Harold."     By  Bulwer  Lytton. 

Now  the  whole  of  William's  mighty  host,  covering 
the  field  of  Hastings  till  its  lines  seemed  to  blend 
with  the  gray  horizon,  came  on,  serried,  steadied, 
orderly,  to  all  sides  of  the  English  intrench ment, 
where  Harold  stood  with  the  last  of  his  outnumbered 
army.  The  King  himself,  as  the  Normans  reached 


164  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

the  fortifications,  sprang  to  the  breastworks  to  meet 
the  stormers.  A  sudden  sweep  of  his  great  ax  and 
down  dropped  a  helm  that  had  appeared  before 
them.  But  helm  after  helm  succeeds.  The  Nor- 
mans come  on ;  as  wolves  on  a  traveler ;  as  bears 
round  a  bark.  Countless,  amid  the  carnage,  on  they 
come !  Their  arrows  darken  the  air.  With  deadly 
precision,  to  each  arm,  to  each  limb,  each  front 
exposed  above  the  bulwarks,  whirs  the  shaft.  Hun- 
dreds fall  dead  under  the  Saxon  ax ;  new  thousands 
rush  on.  The  first  breastworks  are  forced  — 
trampled,  hewed,  crushed,  cumbered  with  the  dead. 
The  Saxons,  yielding  inch  by  inch,  are  crushed  back 
into  the  second  inclosure. 

"Ha  Rou!  Ha  Rou !  Notre  Dame!  Notre 
Dame !  "  sounds  joyous  and  shrill ;  the  Norman 
chargers  snort  and  leap  and  charge  into  the  circle. 

"  On,  Normans  !  Earldom  and  land  !  "  cries  the 
Duke. 

"  On,  Sons  of  the  Church  !  Salvation  and  Heaven ! " 
shouts  the  voice  of  Odo. 

The  same  rush,  and  swarm,  and  fight,  and  cry,  and 
roar :  the  second  inclosure  gives  way.  And  now, 
in  the  center  of  the  third  —  lo !  before  the  eyes  of 
the  Normans  towers  proudly  aloft  and  shines  in  the 
rays  of  the  westering  sun,  broidered  with  gold  and 
blazing  with  mystic  gems,  the  standard  of  England's 
King !  And  there  are  gathered  the  reserve  of  the 
English  host;  there,  the  heroes  who  had  never 
known  defeat ;  unwearied  they  by  the  battle ;  vigor- 


Recitations  and  Declamations  165 

ous,  high-hearted  still ;  and  round  them  the  breast- 
works were  thicker  and  stronger  and  higher  — 
barricades  at  which  even  William  paused  aghast, 
and  Odo  stifled  an  exclamation  that  became  not  a 
priestly  lip. 

The  Norman  arrows  flew  fast  and  thick,  but  Wil- 
liam noted  to  his  grief  that  they  struck  against  the 
tall  breastworks  and  barricades  and  so  failed  of  the 
slaughter  they  should  inflict.  He  took  a  bow  from 
an  archer  and,  as  he  sat  on  his  steed,  sent  an  arrow 
high  into  the  air  so  that  it  fell  in  the  heart  of  the 
reserve  and  within  a  few  feet  of  the  standard. 

"  So  ;  that  standard  be  your  mark,"  he  said. 

In  a  few  moments,  down  came  the  iron  rain.  It 
took  the  English  by  surprise,  piercing  hide  cap  and 
even  iron  helm ;  and  in  the  very  surprise  that  made 
them  look  up  —  death  came.  They  must  use  their 
shields  to  guard  their  heads,  while  their  axes  were 
useless,  or  while  they  smote  with  the  ax  they  died 
by  the  shaft.  Yet,  despite  all,  the  English  bear  up. 
Every  Norman  who  attempts  to  scale  the  breast- 
works is  slain  on  the  instant  and  his  body  cast  forth 
under  the  hoofs  of  the  baffled  steeds.  The  sun  sinks 
nearer  and  nearer  toward  the  red  horizon. 

"Courage!  "  cries  the  voice  of  Harold,  "  Hold  but 
till  nightfall  and  ye  are  saved!  Courage  and  free- 
dom !  " 

"  Harold  and  Holy  Crosse !  "  is  the  answer. 

Foiled,  William  resolved  to  hazard  his  fatal  strata- 
gem. He  marked  that  quarter  where  the  palisade 


1 66  77ie  Principles  of  Oral  English 

was  weakest  and  thither  advanced  a  chosen  column 
of  his  heavy-armed  foot,  tutored  in  his  favorite  ruse, 
and  accompanied  by  a  band  of  archers.  The  column, 
after  a  short,  close,  and  terrible  conflict,  made  a  wide 
breach  in  the  breastworks ;  but  the  defenders  pour 
through  it,  and  line  after  line  of  the  foe  drop  beneath 
their  axes.  The  Norman  column  falls  back  down 
the  slope  —  they  give  way  —  they  turn  in  disorder  — 
they  retreat  —  they  fly ;  but  the  archers  stand  firm, 
midway  down  the  descent  —  those  archers  seem  an 
easy  prey  to  the  English  —  the  temptation  is  irresist- 
ible. Harassed  and  maddened  by  the  shafts,  the 
Anglo- Danes  rush  forth  at  the  heels  of  the  Norman 
swordsmen  and,  sweeping  down  to  exterminate  the 
archers,  leave  the  breach  gaping  wide. 

"Forward!"  cries  William,  as  he  gallops  toward 
the  breach. 

"  Forward !  "  cries  Odo,  "  I  see  the  hands  of  the 
holy  saints  in  the  air  \  Forward !  it  is  the  Dead  that 
wheel  our  war  steeds  round  the  living !  " 

On  rush  the  Norman  knights ;  but  Harold  is 
already  in  the  breach,  rallying  round  him  hearts 
eager  to  replace  the  shattered  breastworks. 

"Close  shields!  Hold  fast!"  shouts  his  kingly 
voice. 

Before  him  are  the  steeds  of  Bruse  and  Grantmes- 
nil;  at  his  breast  their  spears;  —  Haco  holds  over 
his  breast  the  shield.  Swinging  aloft  with  both 
hands  his  ax,  the  spear  of  Grantmesnil  is  shivered 
by  the  King's  stroke ;  cloven  to  the  skull  rolls  the 


Recitations  arid  Declamations 

steed  of  Bruse ;  knight  and  steed  roll  on  the  bloody 
sward.  But  a  blow  from  the  sword  of  De  Lacy 
breaks  down  the  guardian  shield  of  Haco.  With 
lifted  blades  and  whirling  maces  the  Norman  knights 
charge  through  the  breach. 

"  Look  up,  look  up,  and  guard  thy  head ! "  cries 
Haco  to  the  King. 

At  that  cry  the  King  raises  his  flashing  eyes.  Why 
halts  his  stride  ?  Why  drops  the  ax  from  his  hand  ? 
As  he  raises  his  head,  down  comes  the  hissing  shaft. 
It  smites  the  lifted  face  ;  it  crushes  into  the  dauntless 
eyeball.  He  reels,  he  staggers  back  to  the  foot  of 
his  standard,  and  falls.  With  desperate  hand  he 
breaks  the  head  of  the  shaft  and  leaves  the  barb 
quivering  in  the  anguish. 

"  Fight  on !  "  gasps  the  King.  "  Conceal  my 
death !  Holy  Crosse !  England  to  the  rescue ! 
Woe!  Woe!" 

Rallying  himself,  Harold  springs  to  his  feet, 
clenches  his  right  hand,  and  then  falls  once  more  — 
a  corpse. 

GAVROCHE 

Adapted  from  "  Les  Miserables."     By  Victor  Hugo. 

For  two  days  the  great  barrier  of  the  Fauberg  St. 
Antoine,  three  stories  high,  the  largest  the  world  has 
ever  seen,  had  held  out  against  the  troops ;  but  at 
last  the  ammunition  of  the  rabble  who  defended 
it  was  exhausted. 


1 68  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

"  A  quarter  of  an  hour  more,"  said  a  leader, 
"and  there  will  not  be  ten  cartridges  in  the  bar- 
ricade." 

It  would  seem  that  Gavroche  heard  this  remark. 
Gavroche,  the  gamin,  the  child  of  the  gutter,  the 
unnamed  and  unfathered  offspring  of  the  rabble, 
had  been  fighting  with  his  compatriots,  carrying  their 
messages,  performing  services  for  all.  Nobody  could 
cross  the  street  without  the  sound  of  a  whistling 
ball,  the  smack  as  it  found  a  billet ;  and  the  defend- 
ers of  the  barricade  had  one  more  wounded  or  one 
more  dead.  The  hope  that  was  in  the  air  van- 
ished ;  it  was  like  heat-lightning,  and  the  insurgents 
felt  that  pall  fall  upon  them  which  the  indiffer- 
ence of  the  people  casts  over  the  willful  when  aban- 
doned. 

Suddenly  somebody  was  perceived  at  the  foot 
of  the  barricade,  outside  in  the  deserted  street, 
under  the  balls.  Gavroche  had  taken  a  basket,  had 
gone  out,  and  was  quietly  emptying  the  cartridge- 
boxes  of  the  national  guards  who  had  been  killed 
and  had  fallen  inside  the  barricade.  Under  the  veil 
of  the  smoke  caused  by  the  firing,  and  because  of  his 
small  size,  he  advanced  without  being  seen  by  the 
soldiers.  He  twisted,  writhed,  glided,  wormed  his 
way  from  one  body  to  another  and  emptied  a  car- 
tridge-box as  a  monkey  opens  a  nut.  But  he  reached 
a  point  where  the  fog  from  the  firing  was  less  dense, 
and  suddenly  the  soldiers  saw  something  moving  in 
the  smoke. 


Recitations  and  Declamations 


169 


Just  as  Gavroche  was  relieving  a  sergeant  of  his 
cartridges  a  ball  struck  the  body. 

"The  deuce!"  said  the  gamin,  "they  are  killing 
my  dead  for  me." 

A  second  ball  splintered  the  pavement  beside  him  ; 
a  third  upset  his  basket.  Gavroche  rose  straight  on 
his  feet,  his  hair  in  the  wind,  his  hands  on  his  hips, 
his  eyes  on  the  national  guards,  who  were  firing,  and 
sang :  — 


on     -    ly 


scribe,        Tis    the 


fault        of      Vol      -      taire.  .  .       My     life          one      of 
rail. 


woe.  .  .    "  'Tis    the  fault        of      Rous   -  seau." 


Then  he  picked  up  his  basket,  put  into  it  the  car- 
tridges which  had  fallen  out,  without  losing  one,  and, 
advancing  toward  the  fusillade,  began  to  empty 
another  cartridge-box.  A  fourth  ball  just  missed 
him,  and  the  gamin  sang  again :  — 


at 


Nan   -  terre,          'Tis    the 


The  Principles  of  Oral  English 
f 


fault        of      Vol-taire;        And  beasts    at       Pal    -   ai  - 
P  rail.  ^ 


seau.         '"Tis      the     fault  of         Rous   -  seau. 


This  continued  for  some  time,  and  the  sight  was 
appalling  and  fascinating.  Gavroche,  fired  at,  mocked 
the  firing.  It  was  the  sparrow  pecking  at  the  hun- 
ters. The  gamin  answered  each  shot  with  a  couplet, 
and  the  soldiers  laughed  as  they  aimed  at  him  and 
missed.  The  insurgents,  breathless  with  anxiety, 
followed  him  with  their  eyes  as  he  lay  down,  rose  up, 
hid  in  a  doorway,  sprang  out,  disappeared,  appeared, 
escaped,  returned,  retorted  upon  volleys  with  a  wry 
face  and  filled  his  basket  with  pillaged  cartridges. 
They  were  trembling ;  he  was  singing.  It  was  not  a 
child ;  it  was  not  a  man ;  it  was  a  strange,  fairy 
gamin,  playing  a  terrible  game  of  hide-and-seek  with 
death ;  and  every  time  the  face  of  the  specter  ap- 
proached the  gamin  snapped  his  fingers  at  its  eyes. 

But  one  bullet  finally  reached  the  will-o'-the-wisp 
child.  He  tottered  and  fell ;  but  only  to  rise  again. 
For  a  gamin  to  touch  the  pavement  is  for  a  giant  to 
touch  the  earth.  A  long  stream  of  blood  rolled 
down  his  face.  He  raised  both  arms  in  the  air, 
looked  in  the  direction  whence  the  shot  came,  an:] 
began  to  sing  :  — 


Recitations  and  Declamations  171 

I         am  bur  -  ied        in      earth,     'Tis        the  fault — 

He  did  not  finish.  A  second  ball  cut  him  short. 
This  time  he  fell  with  his  face  upon  the  pavement 
and  did  not  stir  again.  That  great  little  soul  had 
taken  flight. 


THE   ATTACK   ON   THE   FORT 

Adapted  from  "The  Crossing."     By  Winston  Churchill. 
Copyright,  1904,  by  The  Macmillan  Company. 

As  the  day  wore  on  to  afternoon  a  blue  haze, 
harbinger  of  autumn,  settled  over  fort  and  forest. 
Bees  hummed  in  the  air  as  they  searched  hither  and 
thither  among  the  flowers,  or  shot,  straight  as  a  bullet, 
for  a  distant  hive.  But  presently  a  rifle  cracked  and 
the  workers  raised  their  heads. 

The  boy  Davie  leaped  upon  a  stump  and  scanned 
the  line  of  sentries  between  the  fields  of  the  workers 
and  the  woods.  He  saw  them  looking  from  one  to 
another  questioningly,  some  shouting  words  he  could 
not  hear.  Then  he  saw  some  of  them  running ;  and 
next,  as  he  stood  wondering,  there  came  another,  and 
then  a  volley  like  the  noise  of  a  great  fire  licking  into 
dry  wood,  and  things  which  were  not  bees  began  to 
hum  about  him.  A  distant  man  in  a  yellow  hunting- 
shirt  stumbled  and  was  drowned  in  the  tangled  under- 


172  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

growth  as  though  in  water.  Around  him  men  dropped 
plow  handles  and  women  baskets,  and  as  he  and  the 
others  ran,  their  legs  grew  numb  and  their  bodies  cold 
at  a  sound  which  had  haunted  them  in  dreams  by  night 
-the  war  whoop !  The  deep  and  guttural  song  of  it 
rose  and  fell  with  a  horrid  fearfulness,  and  the  terror 
it  inspired  made  the  walls  of  the  fort  seem  to  recede 
as  they  rushed  for  the  gates.  An  agonized  voice 
sounded  in  Davie's  ears  and  he  halted,  ashamed.  It 
was  Polly  Ann's. 

"  Davie ! "  she  cried.  "  Davie,  have  ye  seen 
Tom? " 

Two  men  dashed  by.  Davie  seized  one  by  the 
fringe  of  his  hunting-shirt  and  was  flung  from  his 
feet.  The  other  leaped  him  where  he  lay.  "  Run, 
ye  fools ! "  he  shouted ;  but  they  stood  still,  Davie 
and  Polly  Ann,  with  yearning  eyes  staring  back 
through  the  frantic,  flying  forms  for  a  sight  of  the 
boy's  friend  and  the  woman's  husband. 

"I'll  go  back!"  cried  Davie.  "I'll  go  back  for 
him.  Do  you  run  to  the  fort !  "  For  suddenly 
Davie  seemed  to  forget  his  fear;  nor  did  even  the 
hideous  notes  of  the  scalp-halloo  disturb  him. 

Before  Polly  Ann  could  catch  him  the  boy  had 
turned  and  started  toward  the  sound  of  the  savages' 
rifles.  But  he  stumbled,  as  he  thought,  on  a  stump, 
and  fell  headlong  among  the  nettles,  with  a  stinging 
pain  in  his  leg.  Staggering  to  his  feet,  he  tried  to 
run  on,  fell  again  and,  putting  his  hand  to  his  leg, 
drew  it  back  smeared  with  blood.  A  man  came  by, 


Recitations  and  Declamations  173 

paused  for  an  instant  while  his  eye  caught  the  boy, 
and  then  ran  on  again. 

In  the  few  seconds  that  Davie  lay  he  suffered  in 
anticipation  all  the  pangs  of  capture  and  torture ; 
that  cry  of  savage  men,  an  hundred  times  more 
frightful  than  any  cry  of  savage  beast,  sounded  in 
his  ears  ;  and  now  plainly  nearer  by  half  the  distance. 
Nearer — and  nearer  yet  —  and  then  he  heard  his 
name  called.  He  was  lifted  from  the  ground  and 
found  himself  in  the  arms  of  Polly  Ann. 

"  Set  me  down  !  "  he  cried.  "  Set  me  down  !  "  and 
added  some  of  the  curses  he  had  heard  from  the 
men  in  the  fort.  But  she  clutched  him  tightly  (God 
bless  the  memory  of  those  frontier  women !)  and  flew 
like  a  deer  toward  the  gates.  Over  her  shoulder  the 
boy  glanced  back.  A  spare  three  hundred  yards 
away  in  a  ragged  line  a  hundred  red  devils  were 
bounding  after  them  with  feathers  flying,  their 
mouths  open  as  they  yelled.  Again  he  cried  to  the 
woman  to  set  him  down;  but  though  her  heart  beat 
faster,  and  her  breath  was  coming  shorter,  she  held 
him  the  tighter. 

Second  by  second  the  savages  gained  on  them 
relentlessly.  Were  they  near  the  fort?  Hoarse 
shouts  answered  the  question,  but  they  seemed  dis- 
tant—so distant.  The  savages  were  gaining  and 
Polly  Ann's  breath  came  quicker  still.  She  stag- 
gered, but  the  brave  soul  had  no  thought  of  faltering. 
Davie  had  a  sight  of  a  man  on  a  plow  horse  with 
harness  dangling,  coming  up  from  somewhere,  of  the 


1/4  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

man  leaping  off,  of  him  and  the  woman  being  pitched 
upon  the  animal's  bony  back,  and  of  clinging  there 
at  a  gallop,  the  man  running  at  the  side.  Shots 
whistled  over  their  heads  —  and  here  was  the  brown 
fort !  Its  big  gates  swung  together  as  they  dashed 
through  the  narrowed  opening.  Then,  as  he  lifted 
them  off,  they  knew  that  the  man  who  had  saved 
them  was  Tom  himself. 

A   PLEA   FOR    CUBA 
Extract  from  speech  by  John  M.  Thurston. 

I  am  here  by  command  of  silent  lips  to  speak 
once  and  for  all  upon  the  Cuban  question.  I  trust  no 
one  has  expected  anything  sensational  from  me.  God 
forbid  that  the  bitterness  of  a  personal  loss  should 
induce  me  to  color  in  the  slightest  degree  the  state- 
ment I  feel  it  my  duty  to  make.  I  shall  endeavor 
to  be  honest,  conservative  and  just.  I  have  no 
purpose  to  stir  the  public  passion  to  any  action  not 
necessary  and  imperative  to  meet  the  duties  and 
necessities  of  American  responsibility,  Christian  hu- 
manity, and  national  honor.  I  would  shirk  this  task 
if  I  could,  but  I  dare  not.  I  cannot  satisfy  my  con- 
science except  by  speaking,  and  speaking  now. 

The  pictures  in  the  American  newspapers  of  the 
starving  reconcentrados  are  true.  They  can  all  be 
duplicated  by  the  thousands.  I  never  before  saw, 
and  please  God  I  may  never  again  see,  so  deplorable 
a  sight  as  the  reconcentrados  in  the  suburbs  of  Ma- 


Recitations  and  Declamations  175 

tanzas.  I  can  never  forget,  to  my  dying  day,  the 
hopeless  anguish  in  their  despairing  eyes.  Huddled 
in  their  little  bark  huts,  they  raised  no  voice  of  appeal 
to  us  for  alms  as  we  went  among  them.  Men, 
women  and  children  stand  silent,  famishing  with 
hunger.  Their  only  appeal  comes  from  their  sad 
eyes,  through  which  one  looks  as  through  an  open 
window  into  their  agonizing  souls. 

The  Government  of  Spain  has  not  appropriated, 
and  will  not  appropriate,  one  dollar  to  save  this 
people.  They  are  now  being  attended  and  nursed 
and  administered  to  by  the  charity  of  the  United 
States.  Think  of  the  spectacle !  We  are  feeding 
these  citizens  of  Spain ;  we  are  nursing  their  sick ; 
we  are  saving  such  as  can  be  saved  ;  and  yet  there 
are  those  who  say  it  is  right  for  us  to  send  food,  but 
we  must  keep  our  hands  off !  I  say  the  time  has 
come  when  muskets  ought  to  go  with  the  food ! 

I  shall  refer  to  these  horrible  things  no  further. 
They  are  there.  God  pity  me  !  I  have  seen  them ; 
they  will  remain  in  my  mind  forever — and  this  is 
almost  the  twentieth  century !  Spain  has  set  up 
more  crosses  in  more  lands,  beneath  more  skies,  and 
under  them  has  butchered  more  people  than  all  the 
other  nations  combined. 

The  time  for  action  has  come.  No  greater  reason 
for  it  can  exist  to-morrow  than  exists  to-day.  Every 
hour's  delay  only  adds  another  chapter  to  the  awful 
story  of  misery  and  death.  Only  our  power  can  in- 
tervene—  the  United  States  of  America.  Ours  is 


176  TJie  Principles  of  Oral  EnglisJi 

the  one  great  nation  of  the  New  World  ;  the  mother, 
of  American  republics.  She  holds  a  position  of  trust 
and  responsibility  toward  the  peoples  and  the  affairs 
of  the  whole  Western  Hemisphere.  It  was  her 
glorious  example  which  inspired  the  patriots  of  Cuba 
to  raise  the  flag  of  liberty  in  her  eternal  hills.  We 
cannot  refuse  to  accept  this  responsibility  which  the 
God  of  the  Universe  has  placed  upon  us  as  the  one 
great  power  in  the  New  World.  We  must  act ! 
What  shall  our  action  be  ? 

Intervention  means  force ;  force  means  war ;  war 
means  blood.  When  has  a  battle  for  humanity  and 
liberty  ever  been  won  except  by  force  ?  What  barri- 
cade of  wrong,  injustice  and  oppression  has  ever 
been  carried  except  by  force  ?  Force  compelled  the 
signature  of  unwilling  royalty  to  the  great  Magna 
Charta ;  force  put  life  into  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence and  made  effective  the  Emancipation  Proc- 
lamation ;  force  beat  with  naked  hands  on  the  iron 
gateway  of  the  Bastile  and  made  reprisal  in  one 
awful  hour  for  centuries  of  kingly  crime ;  force 
waved  the  flag  of  revolution  over  Bunker  Hill  and 
marked  the  snows  of  Valley  Forge  with  blood-stained 
feet ;  force  held  the  broken  line  at  Shiloh,  climbed 
the  flame-swept  hill  at  Chattanooga  and  stormed  the 
clouds  on  Lookout  Heights ;  force  marched  with 
Sherman  to  the  sea,  rode  with  Sheridan  in  the  valley 
of  the  Shenandoah  and  gave  Grant  victory  at  Appo- 
mattox ;  force  saved  the  Union,  kept  the  stars  in  the 
flag,  made  "  niggers "  men.  The  time  for  God's 
force  has  come  again, 


Recitations  and  Declamations  177 

Others  may  hesitate,  others  may  procrastinate, 
others  may  plead  for  further  diplomatic  negotiations, 
which  means  delay  ;  but  for  me,  I  am  ready  to  act 
now  !  and  for  my  action  I  am  ready  to  answer  to  my 
conscience,  my  country  and  my  God. 


THE   BRIDGE   OF   SIGHS 
By  Thomas  Hood. 

One  more  Unfortunate, 
Weary  of  breath, 
Rashly  importunate, 
Gone  to  her  death  ! 

Take  her  up  tenderly, 
Lift  her  with  care ; 
Fashioned  so  slenderly, 
Young,  and  so  fair. 

Look  at  her  garments, 
Clinging  like  cerements ; 
Whilst  the  wave  constantly 
Drips  from  her  clothing; 
Take  her  up  instantly, 
Loving,  not  loathing. 

Touch  her  not  scornfully ; 
Think  of  her  mournfully ; 
Gently  and  humanly ; 
Not  of  the  stains  of  her; 


1/8  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

All  that  remains  of  her 
Now  is  pure  womanly. 

Make  no  deep  scrutiny 
Into  her  mutiny 
Rash  and  undutiful ; 
Past  all  dishonor, 
Death  has  left  on  her 
Only  the  beautiful. 

Still,  for  all  slips  of  hers, 
One  of  Eve's  family, 
Wipe  those  poor  lips  of  hers 
Oozing  so  clammily. 

Loop  up  her  tresses, 
Escaped  from  the  comb, 
Her  fair  auburn  tresses  ; 
Whilst  wonderment  guesses 
Where  was  her  home  ? 

Who  was  her  father  ? 
Who  was  her  mother  ? 
Had  she  a  sister  ? 
Had  she  a  brother  ? 
Or  was  there  a  dearer  one 
Still,  or  a  nearer  one 
Yet,  than  all  others  ? 

Alas  !  for  the  rarity 
Of  Christian  chanty 
Under  the  sun ! 


Recitations  and  Declamations  179 

Oh  !  it  was  pitiful, 
Near  a  whole  city  full, 
Home  had  she  none ! 

Sisterly,  brotherly, 
Fatherly,  motherly, 
Feelings  had  changed ; 
Love,  by  harsh  evidence 
Thrown  from  its  eminence, 
Even  God's  providence 
Seeming  estranged. 

When  the  lamps  quiver 
So  far  in  the  river, 
With  many  a  light 
From  many  a  casement, 
From  garret  to  basement, 
She  stood,  with  amazement, 
Houseless  by  night. 

The  bleak  wind  of  March 

Made  her  tremble  and  shiver, 

But  not  the  dark  arch 

Or  the  black  flowing  river, 

Mad  from  life's  history, 

Glad  to  death's  mystery 

Swift  to  be  hurl'd,  Anywhere !  anywhere 

Out  of  the  world  ! 

In  she  plung'd  boldly, 
No  matter  how  coldly 
The  rough  river  ran ; 


i8o  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Over  the  brink  of  it, 
Picture  it  —  think  of  it, 
Dissolute  man ! 
Lave  in  it  —  drink  of  it 
Then,  if  you  can. 

Take  her  up  tenderly, 
Lift  her  with  care, 
Fashion'd  so  slenderly, 
Young  and  so  fair. 

Ere  her  limbs  frigidly 
Stiffen  too  rigidly, 
Decently,  kindly 
Smooth  and  compose  them  ; 
And  her  eyes,  close  them 
Staring  so  blindly ! 

Dreadfully  staring 
Through  muddy  impurity, 
As  when  with  the  daring, 
Last  look  of  despairing, 
Fixed  on  futurity, 

Perishing  gloomily, 
Spurned  by  contumily, 
Bold  inhumanity, 
Burning  insanity, 
Into  her  rest ; 
Cross  her  hands  humbly, 
As  if  praying  dumbly, 
Over  her  breast ! 


Recitations  and  Declamations  181 

Owning  her  weakness, 
Her  evil  behavior, 
And  leaving,  with  meekness, 
Her  sins  to  her  Savior. 


TWO   RED   ROSES   AND   AN  ORANGE 

Adapted  from  a  Story  in  the  St.  Louis  Post-Despatch. 

Not  all  the  sympathy  is  crowded  out  of  human 
nature  by  life  in  a  large  community ;  and  a  great 
cityful  of  people  is  a  great  cityful  of  heart  throbs 
and  humane  pulsations. 

One  day  a  little  girl,  poorly  clad,  ran  with  fright- 
ened, backward  glances  along  one  of  the  streets  of 
St.  Louis.  Suddenly  she  stopped,  drew  her  hand 
from  under  her  soiled  apron,  placed  a  pistol  against 
her  thin  breast,  and  fired.  Next  instant  she  lay, 
screaming,  on  the  pavement. 

The  crack  of  the  pistol  and  the  child's  screams  of 
fright  and  agony  attracted  a  throng  of  people.  A 
policeman  summoned  an  ambulance  and  the  wounded 
girl  was  taken  to  a  hospital,  where  it  was  found  that 
the  bullet  had  passed  clear  through  the  spare  body, 
perforating  a  lung  and  making  a  wound  which  the 
physicians  said  was  mortal.  But  surgeons  challenge 
death,  always.  They  washed  the  wound  inside  and 
out,  placed  a  plaster  cast  about  the  poor  little  body, 
and  gave  all  the  help  they  could  to  nature  in  its  fight 
with  the  Destroyer. 

Lizzie  McDonald,  she  said  she  was,  but  who  her 


1 82  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

father  was  or  who  her  mother,  none  seemed  to  know. 
Her  home  —  God  save  the  mark  !  —  was  with  a 
woman  who  kept  a  baby-farm,  and  her  life  was  one 
of  drudgery,  with  no  hope  —  indeed,  with  no  idea  — 
of  a  future.  She  had  broken  a  bottle  belonging 
to  her  mistress,  and  knew  only  too  well  what  would 
happen  when  the  latter  found  it  out.  There  was  a 
pistol  in  the  house.  This  she  seized  and  ran  into 
the  street,  there  to  escape  punishment  by  taking  the 
road  to  death. 

A  reporter  came  to  see  Lizzie  next  day  as  she  lay 
suffering  on  her  cot,  and  as  he  was  leaving  asked  her 
if  she  wanted  anything. 

"  Yes,"  she  answered.  "  I  want  two  red  roses  and 
an  orange.  ,  Do  you  think,  Mister,  they  would  give 
me  an  orange  ?  I  never  owned  a  flower  and  I  never 
had  a  whole  orange  in  my  life." 

Two  red  roses  and  an  orange  !  All  that  was  neces- 
sary to  bring  into  the  fading  life  of  an  eleven-year- 
old  girl  a  pleasure  she  had  never  known ! 

The  reporter,  who  was  familiar  with  Victor  Hugo's 
writings,  called  the  child  "  Little  Cossette,"  when  he 
wrote  for  his  paper,  and  gave  her  story  to  the  city. 
The  tale  of  "  Little  Cossette  "  and  her  simple  desire 
went  to  the  homes  of  the  people  and  reached  down 
into  many  a  sympathetic  heart  next  day.  Human 
interest  was  awakened,  and  before  the  shadows  of 
another  evening  fell  on  the  street  where  the  poor 
child  had  attempted  her  pitiful  tragedy,  flowers  and 
oranges  began  to  pour  into  the  hospital. 


Recitations  and  Declamations  183 

"Two  red  roses  and  an  orange.  Do  you  think 
they  would  give  me  an  orange,  Mister?  " 

A  thousand  of  them,  Lizzie.  There  was  nothing 
doubtful  about  the  answer.  They  came  from  every 
quarter  of  the  city ;  they  covered  the  tables  and 
stands  of  the  room  where  the  little  unfortunate  lay, 
fighting  for  life  just  because  she  was  an  animal,  and 
animate  creatures  must,  even  unconsciously,  struggle 
against  death ;  flowers  festooned  the  curtains,  the 
screens ;  they  draped  the  cot  with  roses  and  piled  all 
the  receptacles  with  yellow,  fragrant  oranges.  The 
little  girl  never  knew,  before  this,  that  there  were  so 
many  oranges  or  so  many  flowers  in  the  whole  wide 
world.  And  they  were  all  for  her !  The  gifts 
brought  her  something  to  think  about,  for  she  must 
give  the  most  of  them  away  to  other  sufferers  in  the 
hospital.  Her  interest  in  life,  which  had  slept  so 
long  that  she  had  forgotten  its  existence,  was 
aroused ;  she  had  found  that  there  were,  indeed, 
people  who  did  not  hate  and  strike  her,  and  she 
lived. 

"  Two  red  roses  and  an  orange."  Lizzie  got  more 
than  that;  even  more  than  all  the  oceans  of  fruit  and 
flowers  that  inundated  her  room.  She  learned  some- 
thing that  she  had  never  dreamed  of  before  —  that 
wherever  humanity  suffers,  wherever  its  cry  of  dis- 
tress reaches  the  ears  of  men  and  women,  there,  God- 
given  and  Christ-nurtured,  is  the  sympathy  that  makes 
all  akin. 


184  'J-hc  Principles  of  Oral  English 


THE  SERAPIS  AND   THE    BON  HOMME  RICHARD 

Adapted  from  "  Richard  Carvel."     By  Winston  Churchill. 
Copyright,  1899,  by  The  Macmillan  Company. 

Lieutenant  Dale  asked  the  pilot  what  fleet  it  was 
that  had  just  hove  into  sight.  He  answered  that  it 
was  the  Baltic  fleet,  under  convoy  of  the  Countess  of 
Scarborough,  twenty  guns,  and  the  Serapis,  forty- 
four.  While  he  was  speaking,  three  more  sail  were 
reported.  At  seven  bells  the  merchantmen  who 
were  being  convoyed  had  all  scuttled  for  safety 
behind  Flamborough  Head  and  the  King's  frigate 
was  standing  out  to  meet  us.  As  I  called  through 
my  trumpet :  "  All  hands  clear  for  action,"  our  tatter- 
demalion crew  cheered ;  but  I  sighed  to  think  that 
they  were  to  fight  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  King's 
navy  with  the  Bon  Homme  Richard^  a  rotten  ship  of 
an  age  gone  by. 

The  bo'suns  sang  out  my  command  in  fog  horn 
voices,  the  drums  beat  the  long  roll,  the  fifes  whistled, 
and  the  decks  became  suddenly  alive.  Breechings 
were  loosened  and  gun  tackles  un lashed,  rammer 
and  sponge  laid  out  and  pike  and  cutlass  and  pis- 
tol placed  where  they  would  be  handy  when  the  time 
came  to  rush  the  enemy's  decks.  Powder  monkeys 
tumbled  over  each  other  to  provide  cartridges,  and 
grape,  canister,  and  double-headed  shot  were  hoisted 
from  below.  Tubs  were  filled  with  sand,  for  blood  is 


Recitations  and  Declamations  185 

slippery  on  the  boards,  and  the  surgeons  went  below 
to  make  ready  for  the  grimmest  work  of  all. 

The  twilight  faded  and  gave  place  to  darkness,  out 
of  which  finally  the  great  frigate  loomed,  scarcely  half 
a  pistol  shot  away.  Obeying  an  order  I  passed  the 
word  below  to  begin  firing.  Hardly  had  the  words 
left  my  mouth  before  the  deck  gave  a  mighty  leap ; 
there  was  a  mighty  roar ;  and  a  pandemonium  of 
shrieks,  groans,  and  oaths  rent  the  air.  The  old 
eighteens  had  burst,  killing  half  their  crews  and 
blowing  up  the  gun  decks.  There  was  a  wild  rush 
of  the  men  for  the  hatches,  but  quick  and  fierce 
the  Commodore  roared  a  command  which  stopped 
them.  Then  our  guns  were  run  out  once  more,  fired 
and  served  again  in  an  agony  of  haste,  while  shot 
from  the  enemy  shrieked  hither  and  thither  about 
us,  striking  everywhere.  Wounded  men  were  taken 
below  as  fast  as  they  could  be  carried,  and  out  of  the 
charnel  house  below  the  main  hatch  rose  one  continu- 
ous cry  of  agony. 

We  might  have  tossed  a  biscuit  aboard  the  Serapis 
as  she  glided  ahead  of  us,  her  broadside  thundering, 
great,  ragged  scantlings  breaking  from  our  bulwarks, 
and  the  shrieks  and  groans  of  the  wounded  redoub- 
ling in  volume.  Our  m.en  were  fighting  our  guns  like 
fiends  incarnate.  Suddenly  our  Commodore  gave  the 
command  :  "  Stand  by  to  board  !  "  Pikes  were  seized 
and  pistol  and  cutlass  buckled  on.  But  even  as  we 
waited  with  set  teeth,  our  bows  ground  into  the 
enemy's  quarter-gallery.  The  Richard's  rigging 


1 86  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

was  much  shot  away  and  she  was  cranky  at  best, 
so  we  backed  and  filled,  passing  the  Englishman 
close  aboard.  Several  of  his  shots  crashed  through 
the  bulwarks  in  front  of  me,  shattering  a  nine-pounder 
and  killing  half  its  crew.  We  had  just  time  to  send 
our  broadside  into  her  at  six  fathoms  before  the  huge 
vessels  came  crunching  together,  the  disordered  rig- 
gings locking.  In  the  moment  of  breathless  pause 
that  followed,  a  stern  call  came  from  the  Englishman  : 
"Have  you  struck,  sir?"  John  Paul  Jones's  answer 
sounded  clear,  and  it  bred  hero  worship  in  our  souls  : 
"  Sir,  I  have  just  begun  to  fight !  " 

Then  came  a  fearful  hour,  when  a  shot  had  scarce 
to  leap  a  cannon's  length  to  reach  its  commission, 
and  Death  was  sovereign.  The  red  flashes  from  the 
guns  revealed  many  an  act  of  heroism.  I  saw  a  lad 
whip  off  his  coat  when  a  gunner  called  for  a  wad. 
Seven  times  was  that  battle  lost,  and  seven  times  re- 
gained by  that  indomitable  man  into  whose  mind  the 
thought  of  defeat  could  not  enter.  His  spirit  held 
us  to  our  task,  for  flesh  and  blood  might  not  have 
endured  it  alone.  Our  battery  of  twelves  was  fight- 
ing the  Englishman  muzzle  to  muzzle,  our  rammers 
leaning  into  the  Serapis  to  send  their  shot  home. 

Aloft  I  saw  a  man  clamber  from  our  main  yard 
into  the  top  of  the  Englishman,  whence  he  threw  a 
hand  grenade  down  her  main  hatch.  An  instant 
later  an  explosion  came  like  a  clap  of  thunder  in  our 
faces,  a  great  quadrant  of  light  flashed  as  high  as  the 
Serapis's  trucks,  and  through  a  breach  in  her  bul- 


Recitations  and  Declamations  187 

warks  I  saw  men  running  with  only  the  collars  of 
their  shirts  on  their  bodies.  Then,  all  at  once,  the 
towering  mainmast  of  the  enemy  cracked  and  tot- 
tered and  swung  this  way  and  that  on  its  loosened 
shrouds.  In  the  midst  of  an  intense  silence  which 
followed,  some  one  shouted  from  aloft :  — 

"  The  captain  is  hauling  down,  sir !  " 

The  sound  that  broke  from  our  men  at  this  word 
could  scarcely  be  called  a  cheer.  What  they  felt  as 
they  sank  exhausted  on  the  blood  of  their  comrades 
may  not  have  been  elation.  Calling  some  of  my 
boarders,  I  scaled  the  bulwarks  and  leaped  fairly 
into  the  middle  of  the  gangway  of  the  Serapis. 

A  naked  seaman  came  charging  me  with  raised 
p^ke.  I  was  already  wounded  and  weak,  and  as  he 
r^.n  at  me  I  fell  senseless. 

THE   MURDER   OF    HYPATIA 

Adapted  from  "  Hypatia."     By  Charles  Kingsley. 

At  last  a  curricle,  glittering  with  silver,  rattled 
round  the  corner  and  stopped  opposite  where  Phile- 
mon hid.  The  crowd  had  vanished.  Perhaps  it 
was,  after  all,  a  fancy  of  his  own.  No;  there  they 
were,  peeping  round  the  corner,  close  to  the  lecture 
room — the  hell-hounds!  A  slave  brought  out  a  vel- 
vet cushion,  and  then  Hypatia  came  forth,  looking 
more  glorious  than  ever,  her  lips  set  in  a  sad, 
firm  smile;  her  eyes  uplifted,  inquiring,  eager,  and 
yet  gentle,  dimmed  by  some  great  inward  awe,  as  if 


1 88  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

her  soul  was  far  away  aloft  and  face  to  face  with 
God. 

Hypatia  entered  her  carriage  and  the  plumes  of 
her  horses  were  waving  far  down  the  street  before 
Philemon  recovered  himself  and  rushed  after  her. 
It  was  too  late!  A  dark  wave  of  men  rushed  from 
the  ambuscade,  surged  up  around  the  car  —  swept 
forward  —  she  had  disappeared !  and  as  Philemon 
followed  breathlessly  the  horses  galloped  past  him, 
madly,  homeward  with  the  empty  carriage. 

Whither  were  they  dragging  her  ?  To  the  Caesa- 
reum,  the  Church  of  God  Himself !  She  was  upon 
the  church  steps  before  he  caught  them  up,  invisible 
among  the  crowd  ;  but  he  could  track  her  by  the 
fragments  of  her  dress.  On,  into  the  church  itsel* ! 
Into  the  cool,  dim  shadows,  with  its  fretted  pilla.  s 
and  lowering  domes,  and  candles,  and  incense,  and 
blazing  altar,  and  great  pictures  looking  from  the 
walls  athwart  the  gorgeous  gloom.  And  right  in 
front,  above  the  altar,  the  colossal  Christ  watching 
unmoved  from  off  the  wall,  his  right  hand  raised  to 
give  a  blessing  —  or  a  curse  ? 

On,  up  the  nave,  fresh  shreds  of  her  dress  strew- 
ing the  holy  pavement  —  up  the  chancel  steps  them- 
selves —  up  to  the  altar  —  right  underneath  the 
great,  still  Christ :  and  there  even  those  hell-hounds 
paused. 

Hypatia  shook  herself  free  from  her  tormentors 
and,  springing  back,  rose  for  one  moment  to  her  full 
height,  naked,  snow-white  against  the  dusky  mass 


Recitations  and  Declamations  189 

around  —  shame  and  indignation  in  those  wide,  clear 
eyes,  but  not  a  stain  of  fear.  With  one  hand  she 
clasped  her  golden  locks  about  her ;  the  other  long, 
white  arm  was  stretched  upward  toward  the  great, 
still  Christ,  appealing — and  who  shall  dare  to  say 
in  vain  ?  —  from  man  to  God!  Her  lips  were  opened 
to  speak ;  but  the  words  which  should  have  come 
from  them  reached  God's  ear  alone,  for  in  an  instant 
Peter  had  struck  her  down,  the  dark  mass  closed 
over  her  again  —  and  then  wail  on  wail,  long,  wild 
ear-piercing,  rang  along  the  vaulted  roofs  and, 
thrilled  like  the  trumpet  of  avenging  angels  through 
Philemon's  ears. 

And  still  the  shrieks  rang  on,  and  still  the  great 
Christ  looked  down  with  that  calm,  intolerable  eye 
and  would  not  turn  away ;  and  over  His  head  was 
written  in  the  rainbow :  "  I  am  the  same,  yesterday, 
to-day  and  forever  !  " 

It  was  over  !  The  shrieks  died  away  into  moans ; 
the  moans  to  silence. 


THE   UNKNOWN   SPEAKER 

Lippard. 

It  is  the  Fourth  of  July,  1776.  In  the  old  State 
House  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  are  gathered  half 
a  hundred  men  to  strike  from  their  limbs  the  shackles 
of  British  despotism.  There  is  silence  in  the  hall  — 
every  face  is  turned  toward  the  door,  where  the  com- 


190  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

mittee  of  three,  who  have  been  out  all  night  penning 
a  parchment,  are  soon  to  enter.  The  door  opens,  the 
committee  appear.  The  three  advance  to  the  table. 
The  parchment  is  laid  there. 

Shall  it  be  signed,  or  not  ?  A  fierce  debate  ensues. 
But  still  there  is  doubt,  and  one  pale-faced  man  whis- 
pers something  about  axes,  scaffolds  and  a  gibbet. 

"Gibbet!"  echoes  a  fierce,  bold  voice  through  the 
hall.  "  Gibbet !  They  may  stretch  our  necks  on  all 
the  gibbets  in  the  land  ;  they  may  turn  every  rock  into 
a  scaffold,  every  tree  into  a  gallows,  every  home  into 
a  grave,  and  yet  the  words  on  that  parchment  there 
can  never  die !  They  may  pour  our  blood  on  a 
thousand  scaffolds,  and  yet  from  every  drop  that 
dyes  the  ax  a  new  champion  of  liberty  will  spring 
into  bir^h.  The  British  king  may  blot  out  the  stars 
of  God  from  the  skies,  but  he  cannot  blot  out  His 
word  written  on  that  parchment  there.  The  works 
of  God  may  perish  ;  His  words,  never! 

"  The  words  of  this  declaration  will  live  in  the 
world  long  after  our  bones  are  dust.  To  the  me- 
chanic in  his  workshop  they  will  speak  hope ;  to 
the  slaves  in  the  mines,  freedom ;  but  to  the  coward 
kings  these  words  will  speak  in  tones  of  warning 
they  cannot  choose  but  hear. 

"  Sign  that  parchment !  Sign,  if  the  next  minute 
this  hall  rings  with  the  clash  of  the  falling  axes ! 
Sign,  by  all  your  hopes  in  life  or  death  as  men,  as 
husbands,  as  fathers,  brothers ;  sign  your  names  to 
the  parchment,  or  be  accursed  forever !  Sign,  and 


Recitations  and  Declamations  191 

not  only  for  yourselves,  but  for  all  ages ;  for  that 
parchment  will  be  the  text-book  of  freedom — the 
Bible  of  the  rights  of  men  forever.  Nay,  do  not 
start  and  whisper  with  surprise  !  It  is  truth,  your 
own  hearts  witness  it;  God  proclaims  it.  Look  at 
this  strange  history  of  a  band  of  exiles  and  out- 
casts suddenly  transformed  into  a  people  —  a  hand- 
ful of  men  weak  in  arms,  but  mighty  in  Godlike 
faith.  Nay,  look  at  your  recent  achievements,  your 
Bunker  Hill,  your  Lexington,  and  then  tell  me  if  you 
can  that  God  has  not  given  America  to  be  free ! 

"  As  I  live,  my  friends,  I  believe  that  to  be  His 
purpose  !  Yes,  were  my  soul  trembling  on  the  verge 
of  eternity,  were  this  hand  freezing  in  death,  were 
this  voice  choking  with  the  last  struggle,  I  would 
still  with  the  last  impulse  of  that  soul,  with  the 
last  wave  of  that  hand,  with  the  last  gasp  of  that 
voice,  implore  you  to  remember  this  truth  —  God 
has  given  America  to  be  free !  Yes,  as  I  sank  into 
the  gloomy  shadows  of  the  grave,  with  my  last  faint 
whisper  I  would  beg  you  to  sign  that  parchment  for 
the  sake  of  the  millions  whose  very  breath  is  now 
hushed  in  intense  expectation  as  they  look  up  to 
you  for  the  awful  words  :  '  You  are  free ! ' ' 

The  unknown  speaker  fell  exhausted  in  his  seat ; 
but  the  work  was  done.  A  wild  murmur  runs 
through  the  hall.  "  Sign  !  "  There  is  no  doubt  now. 
Look  how  they  rush  forward  !  Stout-hearted  John 
Hancock  has  scarcely  time  to  sign  his  bold  name 
before  the  pen  is  grasped  by  another,  another  and 


1 92  TJic  Principles  of  Oral  English 

another.  Look  how  the  names  blaze  on  the  parch- 
ment !  Adams  and  Lee,  Jefferson  and  Carroll, 
Franklin  and  Sherman  !  And  now  the  parchment 
is  signed. 

Now,  old  man  in  the  steeple  ;  now  bare  your  arm 
and  let  the  bell  speak !  Hark  to  the  music  of  the 
bell !  Is  there  not  a  poetry  in  that  sound,  a  poetry 
more  sublime  than  that  of  Shakespeare  and  Milton  ? 
Is  there  not  a  music  in  that  sound  that  reminds  you 
of  those  sublime  notes  which  broke  from  angel  lips 
when  the  news  of  the  Child  Jesus  burst  on  the  hill- 
tops of  Bethlehem  ?  For  the  notes  of  that  bell  now 
come  pealing,  pealing,  pealing,  "  Independence  now, 
and  Independence  forever." 


THE   END   OF   CARVER   DOONE 
Adapted  from  "  Lorna  Doone."     By  R.  D.  Blackmore. 

As  the  last  words  of  the  ceremony  were  spoken 
and  the  bride  and  bridegroom  rose  from  their  knees, 
a  shot  rang  out  through  the  church,  and  Lorna,  her 
eyes  filled  with  death  and  the  blood  flowing  down 
her  bodice,  fell  fainting  into  the  arms  of  her  newly- 
made  husband.  John  Ridd,  his  brain  shocked  into  a 
whirling  calmness,  held  her  so  for  a  moment,  looking 
into  her  white  face  ;  and  then,  without  a  word,  he 
laid  her  in  his  mother's  arms  and,  begging  that  no 
one  should  make  any  noise,  went  forth  for  his 
revenge. 


Recitations  and  Declamations  193 

Of  course  he  knew  who  had  done  it.  There  was 
but  one  man  in  the  world  who  could  have  done  such 
a  thing.  He  leaped  upon  his  best  horse  and  turned 
its  head  toward  the  course  pointed  out  to  him. 
Who  showed  him  the  course  he  could  never  after- 
wards tell ;  he  knew  only  that  he  took  it.  The  men 
fell  back  before  this  giant  of  Exmoor,  this  man 
whose  fearful  strength  of  body  and  limb  had  never 
been  shown  to  its  limit,  and  watched  him  as,  un- 
armed, he  went  forth  to  find  out  whether  in  this 
world  there  was  or  was  not  a  God  of  Justice. 

With  his  vicious  horse  at  a  furious  speed  he  came 
upon  Black  Barrow  Down,  directed  by  some  shout 
of  men  which  seemed  to  him  but  a  whisper ;  and 
there,  about  a  furlong  before  him,  rode  a  man  on  a 
great  black  horse  —  and  he  knew  that  the  man  was 
Carver  Doone. 

"Your  life  or  mine,"  he  said  to  himself,  "as  the 
will  of  God  may  be.  But  we  two  live  not  upon  this 
earth  one  hour  more  together." 

John  knew  the  strength  of  this  great  man ;  and  he 
knew  also  that  he  was  armed  with  a  gun  —  if  he  had 
had  time  to  load  again  after  shooting  Lorna  —  or,  at 
any  rate,  with  pistols,  and  with  a  horseman's  sword 
as  well ;  nevertheless,  he  had  no  more  doubt  of  kill- 
ing him  than  a  cook  has  of  spitting  a  headless 
fowl. 

Carver,  his  horse  at  full  speed,  turned  into  the 
gully  which  leads  to  Cloven  Rocks.  As  he  entered 
it  he  looked  back  and  saw  John  Ridd  not  more  than 


194  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

a  hundred  yards  behind.  John's  horse  was  fresh, 
but  Carver's  big  black  was  tiring,  and  the  pursuer 
knew  that  he  could  catch  up  with  his  quarry  on  the 
steep  ascent.  Carver  realized  this,  too,  so  he  turned 
sharply  into  the  black  gully  leading  to  the  Wizard's 
Slough.  John  followed  his  enemy  then  carefully, 
steadily,  even  leisurely,  for  he  knew  he  had  him  in  a 
trap  whence  he  could  not  escape.  Carver  thought 
John's  slowness  was  due  to  fear,  and  flung  back  a 
disdainful  laugh. 

A  knarled  and  half-starved  oak,  as  stubborn  as 
his  own  resolve,  and  smitten  by  some  storm  of  old, 
hung  from  the  crag  above.  Rising  from  his  horse's 
back,  John  caught  a  limb  and  tore  it  from  its  socket 
as  though  it  were  a  mere  wheat  awn.  Men  show  the 
rent  even  now  with  wonder ;  none  with  more  wonder 
than  John  himself. 

Carver  Doone  turned  the  corner  suddenly  on  the 
black  and  bottomless  bog.  With  a  start  of  fear  he 
reined  back  and  seemed  about  to  turn  on  his  pursuer, 
but  instead  rode  on  again,  hoping  to  find  a  way  round 
the  side.  Now,  there  is  a  way  between  cliff  and 
slough  for  those  who  know  the  ground  thoroughly, 
but  the  place  was  strange  to  Carver.  Wheeling 
suddenly,  he  fired  and  rode  at  John.  The  bullet 
struck  John  somewhere,  but  he  took  no  heed  of  that. 
Fearing  only  Carver's  escape,  he  laid  his  horse  across 
the  way  and,  with  the  limb  of  oak,  struck  full  on  the 
forehead  of  the  charging  steed.  Ere  the  slash  of 
Carver's  sword  came  nigh  him,  man  and  horse  rolled 


Recitations  and  Declamations  195 

over.  John  leaped  to  the  ground  and  waited,  smooth- 
ing his  hair  back  and  baring  his  arms  as  though  in  the 
wrestling  ring,  where  he  had  long  been  champion, 
waiting  for  Carver,  who  had  been  somewhat  stunned, 
to  rise. 

With  a  sullen  and  black  scowl  Carver  gathered  his 
mighty  frame  and  looked  for  his  weapons ;  but  these 
John  had  put  out  of  his  reach.  Then  Carver  ap- 
proached John  and  gazed,  being  wont  to  frighten 
thus  young  men. 

"  I  would  not  harm  you,  lad,"  he  said  with  a  lofty 
style  of  sneering.  "  I  have  punished  you  enough  for 
most  of  your  impertinence ;  for  the  rest  I  forgive 
you,  because  you  were  once  good  to  my  little  son. 
Go,  and  be  contented." 

For  answer  John  smote  him  on  the  cheek,  lightly 
and  not  to  hurt ;  just  enough  to  make  Carver's  blood 
leap.  He  would  not  sully  his  tongue,  he  thought, 
by  speaking  with  a  man  like  that. 

There  was  a  level  space  of  sward  between  them 
and  the  slough.  With  a  courtesy  learned  in  his 
single  trip  to  London,  to  this  place  John  led  him, 
and,  that  Carver  might  breathe  himself  and  have 
every  fiber  cool  and  every  muscle  ready,  loosed  his 
hold  on  his  coat  and  left  him  to  begin  whenever 
he  thought  proper. 

After  a  few  moments  John,  to  offer  Carver  first 
chance,  as  he  always  did  to  a  weaker  antagonist,  let 
him  have  the  hug  of  him.  In  this,  however,  he 
was  too  generous,  having  forgotten  his  pistol  wound 


196  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

and  the  recent  cracking  of  one  of  his  short  ribs. 
Carver  caught  him  about  the  waist  with  such  a 
grip  as  had  never  before  been  laid  upon  him. 

Hearing  his  rib  crack  again  John  grasped  Carver's 
arm  and  tore  the  muscle  out  of  it  as  a  string  comes 
out  of  an  orange.  Then  he  caught  him  by  the 
throat.  Carver  tugged  and  strained  and  writhed  in 
vain,  dashed  his  bloody  fist  into  John's  face,  and 
flung  himself  upon  him  with  gnashing  jaws.  Be- 
neath the  iron  of  John's  strength  —  for  God  was  with 
him  that  day  —  Carver  was  held  helpless  in  two 
minutes,  and  his  fiery  eyes  lolled  out. 

"  I  will  not  harm  thee  any  more,"  John  cried  as 
well  as  he  could  for  panting,  the  work  being  very 
furious.  "  Carver  Doone,  thou  art  beaten  !  Own 
it,  and  thank  God  for  it;  and  go  thy  way  and  re- 
pent thyself." 

It  was  all  too  late.  Even  if  he  had  yielded  in  his 
raving  frenzy  —  for  his  beard  was  like  a  mad  dog's 
jowl  —  even  if  he  would  have  owned  that,  for  the 
first  time  in  his  life,  he  had  found  his  master,  it 
was  all  too  late. 

The  black  bog  had  him  by  the  feet ;  the  sucking 
of  the  ground  drew  on  him  like  the  thirsty  lips  of 
death.  In  their  fury  the  fighters  had  heeded  neither 
wet  nor  dry ;  nor  thought  of  earth  beneath  them. 
John  himself  might  scarcely  leap,  with  the  last 
spring  of  o'erlabored  legs,  from  the  engulfing 
grave  of  slime.  Carver  fell  back,  his  swarthy  breast, 
from  which  the  struggle  had  rent  all  clothing,  stand- 


Recitations  and  Declamations  19^ 

ing  out  on  the  quagmire  like  a  hummock  of  bog  oak  ; 
and  then  he  tossed  his  arms  to  heaven ;  they  were 
black  to  the  elbow  and  the  glare  of  his  eyes  was 
ghastly.  John's  strength  was  now  no  more  than 
an  infant's,  from  the  fury  of  the  battle  and  the  horror 
of  the  sight,  and  he  could  only  gaze  and  pant. 
Scarcely  could  he  turn  away  while,  joint  by  joint, 
Carver  sank  out  of  sight. 

A  WILD   OLIVE   WREATH 
By  S.  Scoville,  Jr. 

Thronged  to  the  gates  is  the  little  town  of  Elis  the 
night  before  the  Olympic  games.  Dion,  the  son  of 
Glaucus,  gazes  with  wide-open  eyes  out  into  the  night, 
sees  the  glimmer  of  the  stars  through  the  flickering 
leaves  and  sleeps  not.  On  the  morrow  he,  a  youth 
of  eighteen,  is  to  run  in  the  Dolichos,  the  hardest 
race  of  the  games.  His  father  stands  by  him  long 
without  speaking,  gazing  down  at  his  son,  while  the 
stern,  unflinching  eyes  become  soft.  Then  the  hand 
that  with  the  cestus  for  nine  Olympiads  had  won  the 
wreath  from  the  world's  mightiest,  rests  on  his  yellow 
curls  tenderly  as  a  woman's. 

"  Dion,  my  son,"  and  the  deep  voice  trembled  a 
little,  "  thou  knowest  that  our  blood  has  ever  brought 
glory  to  Croton ;  that  the  statues  of  thy  grandfather, 
thy  father  and  thy  two  brothers  all  stand  in  this 
grove  among  the  winners  of  Olympiads.  Now  thy 
turn  hath  come.  Oh,  my  son,  my  son !  for  the  love 


198  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

thy  father  bears  thee,  for  the  honor  of  city  and 
blood,  win  the  wreath  to-morrow  !  "  —  and  Glaucus  is 
gone. 

In  the  gray  hours  just  before  the  dawn  Hippo- 
machus,  his  trainer,  rouses  the  boy  from  an  uneasy 
slumber,  and  then,  with  clear  oil,  rubs  out  every 
trace  of  stiffness  from  the  lithe,  polished  limbs.  The 
sun  is  well  up  before  the  first  races  are  over,  and 
Dion  takes  his  place  with  the  others  for  the  great 
race  of  the  day.  The  long,  straight  expanse  of  the 
stadium  stretches  before  him.  At  either  end  are 
sunken  slabs  of  white  marble.  Ten  times  must  a 
runner  touch  each  block  to  cover  the  full  twenty 
courses. 

A  great  hush  has  fallen  on  the  multitude,  which 
is  broken  by  the  voice  of  the  herald  :  — 

"  Let  him  that  knows  of  any  stain  on  the  life  or 
blood  of  a  competitor  speak  now  !  "  it  thunders.  A 
moment  of  tense  silence,  and  then  :  — -  "  Let  every 
runner  place  his  feet  on  the  mark !  "  echoes  along  the 
hillside. 

Each  nude  figure  bends  forward ;  a  clear  trumpet 
note  and  they  are  away,  a  rushing  mass  of  bodies 
that  gleam  in  the  sunlight.  Glaucus,  sitting  with  the 
multitude,  has  eyes  for  but  one  thing  —  a  slim,  lithe 
figure  far  in  the  rear  of  the  novices,  running  with  a 
smooth,  effortless  gait  with  six  of  the  more  experi- 
enced racers.  At  the  end  of  the  eleventh  course 
these  six  begin  to  draw  away  from  those  who  have 
exhausted  their  strength  in  the  first  half  of  the  con- 


Recitations  and  Declamations  199 

test.  At  last  only  five  stadia  more  — the  stadia  which 
are  the  supreme  test  of  a  runner's  endurance. 

Philoctetes,  the  Spartan,  the  winner  of  the  last 
Dolichos,  is  in  the  lead.  His  teeth  are  clenched  and 
the  foam  is  white  on  his  black  beard.  A  fit  embodi- 
ment is  he  of  the  grim  Lacedaemonian  spirit  which  was 
yet  to  dominate  Greece.  At  his  shoulder  glare  the 
eyes  of  Sisthenes,  who  would  gladly  give  his  life 
that  Athens  might  win. 

There  is  a  great  hush  as  the  runners  traverse  the 
third  course ;  the  supreme  moment  of  the  race  is 
drawing  nigh.  All  in  a  moment  Antenor,  the  Corin- 
thian, who  has  held  third  place  just  ahead  of  Dion, 
plunges  forward  in  the  very  midst  of  a  stride  and 
falls,  the  bright  blood  gushing  from  his  mouth,  his 
last  Dolichos  run. 

"Dion!  Dion!  See  our  Dion!"  roared  the  men 
of  Croton  ;  for  the  boy  is  gaining.  Inch  by  inch 
the  gap  between  him  and  the  leaders  lessens,  and 
soon  Sisthenes  hears  a  sobbing  breath  at  his  ear  and 
knows  there  is  another  to  dispute  the  victory  with 
Athens  and  Sparta. 

"  Tis  thine  own  son,  O  Glaucus  !  "  cries  Hippoma- 
chus ;  and,  indeed,  the  boy's  features  have  changed. 
On  the  white,  drawn  face  appears  the  same  intense 
look  of  deadly  earnestness  that  made  the  fiercest 
boxer  fear  to  stand  before  Glaucus  in  the  old  days. 
Fatigue,  pain,  danger,  death  itself,  count  for  naught. 
The  race  !  The  race  !  His  city's  honor !  are  all 
that  Dion  knows.  Three  runners  touch  the  white 


2OO  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

stone  and  turn  back  for  the  last  course  almost  in 
line. 

Back  and  forth  roll  the  waves  of  sound  :  "  Athens  ! 
Athens  !  Philoctetes  for  Sparta !  "  But  high  over 
all  echoes  the  cry  :  "  Croton  !  Croton !  Speed  thee, 
O  Croton !  " 

Unhearing,  Dion  runs.  There  is  a  sickening  pain 
in  his  breast  and  a  taste  of  blood  in  his  mouth,  but 
the  boy's  will  yet  upholds  the  overtaxed  body,  dead 
from  the  waist  down,  and  the  gap  between  him  and 
the  leaders  widens  not.  Far,  oh,  so  terribly  far,  in 
the  distance  is  the  white  stone,  the  goal  of  all  his  life. 

Suddenly  from  out  of  the  misty  cloud  of  faces  that 
wavers  before  the  boy's  hot,  unwinking  eyes,  Dion 
sees  his  father's,  the  stern  features  all  convulsed  ; 
hears  a  voice  cry  brokenly,  a  world  of  anguished 
pleading  in  its  tone  :  — 

"  On,  Dion,  on  !     Oh,  my  son,  for  your  city !  " 

At  the  cry  the  boy's  face  comes  up  even  with  the 
black  beard  of  Philoctetes  —  the  tense  countenance 
of  the  Athenian. 

Neck  by  neck,  stride  for  stride,  the  three  stagger 
on,  and  the  finish  is  but  a  few  steps  away.  He  who 
touches  the  stone  first,  if  by  only  a  hair'sbreadth,  is 
the  winner. 

Then,  above  the  deep  roar  of  the  crowd  sounds  a 
voice  like  a  trumpet-peal  —  the  tremendous  voice  of 
Hippomachus,  wisest  of  men  in  every  wile  of  the 
stadion :  — 

"The  finish!     Dion!     The  finish!     Remember - 
NOW  ! " 


Recitations  and  Declamations  201 

Through  the  dimness  that  is  clouding  Dion's 
senses  the  voice  pierces.  Almost  in  the  last  stride 
of  the  race,  with  arms  extended,  he  throws  himself 
forward  like  a  diver,  and  his  hands,  outstretched,  are 
on  the  goal  stone  a  fraction  of  a  second  before  the 
feet  of  the  others. 

With  the  feeling  of  the  smooth  coolness  of  the 
marble  comes  a  great  darkness,  and  Dion  knows 
nothing  more  until  he  finds  himself  in  the  temple  of 
Zeus.  Around  him  are  the  strong  arms  of  his  father. 
He  hears  the  pealing  chant :  "  Tenella  !  Tenella  ! 
Hail  to  the  victor ! "  and  on  his  forehead  feels  the 
light  pressure  of  the  hardly  won  olive  wreath  that 
crowns  him  before  the  world  the  winner  of  the 
Dolichos. 

FAGIN   IN   THE   CONDEMNED   CELL 
From  "  Oliver  Twist."     By  Charles  Dickens. 

They  led  him  to  one  of  the  condemned  cells 
and  left  him  there  —  alone.  He  sat  down  on  a 
stone  bench  opposite  the  door,  which  served  for  seat 
and  bedstead,  and,  casting  his  bloodshot  eyes  upon 
the  ground,  tried  to  collect  his  thoughts.  To  be 
hanged  by  the  neck  till  he  was  dead  —  that  was  the 
end.  To  be  hanged  by  the  neck  till  he  was  dead. 
-As  it  came  on  very  dark  he  began  to  think  of 
all  the  men  he  had  known  who  had  died  on  the 
scaffold;  some  of  them  through  his  means.  They 
rose  up  .  in,  such  .  quick  succession  that  he  could 


2O2  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

hardly  count  them.  He  had  seen  some  of  them 
die  —  and  had  joked,  too,  because  they  had  died 
with  prayers  upon  their  lips.  With  what  a  rattling 
noise  the  drop  went  down !  and  how  suddenly  they 
changed  from  strong  and  vigorous  men  to  dangling 
heaps  of  clothes. 

Some  of  them  might  have  inhabited  that  very 
cell  —  sat  upon  that  very  spot !  It  was  very  dark ; 
why  didn't  they  bring  a  light?  The  cell  had  been 
built  for  many  years.  Scores  of  men  must  have 
passed  their  last  hours  there !  It  was  like  sitting  in  a 
vault  strewn  with  dead  bodies  —  the  cap,  the  noose, 
the  pinioned  arms,  the  faces  that  he  knew  even 
beneath  that  hideous  veil  —  Light!  Light! 

At  length,  when  his  hands  were  raw  with  beating 
against  the  heavy  door  and  the  walls,  two  men 
appeared,  one  bearing  a  candle,  the  other  dragging 
in  a  mattress  on  which  to  pass  the  night  —  for  the 
prisoner  was  to  be  left  alone  no  more. 

Saturday  night.  He  had  only  one  more  night  to 
live.  And  as  he  thought  of  this  the  day  broke  - 
Sunday.  He  had  spoken  little  to  either  of  the  two 
men  who  relieved  each  other  in  their  attendance 
upon  him  ;  and  they,  for  their  part,  had  made  no 
effort  to  rouse  his  attention.  He  had  sat  there, 
awake,  but  dreaming.  Now  he  -started  up  every 
minute,  and,  with  gasping  mouth  and  burning  skin, 
hurried  to  and  fro  in  such  a  paroxysm  of  fear 
and  wrath  that  even  they  —  used  to  such  sights  — 
recoiled  from  him  with  horror.  He  had  been 


Recitations  and  Declamations  203 

wounded  with  some  missiles  from  the  crowd  on  the 
day  of  his  capture,  and  his  head  was  bandaged  with 
a  linen  cloth.  His  red  hair  hung  down  upon  his 
bloodless  face ;  his  beard  was  torn  and  twisted  into 
knots;  his  eyes  shone  with  a  terrible  light;  his  un- 
washed flesh  crackled  with  the  fever  that  burned 
him  up. 

Those  terrible  walls  of  Newgate,  which  have  hid- 
den so  much  misery  and  such  unspeakable  anguish, 
not  only  from  the  eyes,  but,  too  often  and  too  long, 
from  the  thoughts  of  men,  never  held  so  dread  a 
spectacle  as  that. 

In  the  dead  of  night,  when  the  street  was  left 
in  solitude  and  darkness,  Mr.  Brownlow  and  Oliver 
were  admitted  to  the  lodge. 

The  man  on  duty  opened  another  gate  and  led 
them  on,  through  dark  and  winding  ways,  toward 
the  cells.  He  led  them  into  the  stone  kitchen  and 
pointed  to  a  door.  There  was  an  open  grating  above 
it,  through  which  came  the  sound  of  men's  voices, 
mingled  with  the  noise  of  hammering  and  the  throw- 
ing down  of  boards.  They  were  putting  up  the 
scaffold.  They  crossed  an  open  yard,  ascended  a 
flight  of  narrow  steps  and  came  into  a  passage 
with  a  row  of  strong  doors  on  the  left  hand.  The 
turnkey  knocked  on  one  of  these  with  his  bunch  of 
keys.  The  two  attendants,  after  a  little  whispering, 
came  out  into  the  passage  and  motioned  the  visitors 
to  follow  the  jailer  into  the  cell. 

The  condemned  criminal  was  seated  on  his  bed, 


2O4  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

rocking  himself  from  side  to  side,  with  a  counte- 
nance more  like  that  of  a  scared  beast  than  the  face 
of  a  man.  His  mind  was  evidently  wandering  to 
his  old  life,  for  he  continued  to  mutter,  without 
appearing  conscious  of  their  presence. 

"Good  boy,  Charlie  —  well  done—  "  he  mumbled. 
"Oliver  too,  ha!  ha!  ha!  Oliver  too  —  quite  the 
gentleman  now —  quite  the--  take  that  boy  away  to 
bed !  Do  you  hear  me,  some  of  you  ?  he  has 
been  the  —  the —  somehow  the  cause  of  all  this.  It's 
worth  the  money  to  bring  him  up  to  it — Bolter's 
throat,  Bill;  never  mind  the  girl  —  Bolter's  throat, 
as  deep  as  you  can  cut.  Saw  his  head  off !  " 

"  Fagin,"  said  the  jailer. 

"  That's  me!"  cried  the  Jew,  falling  instantly  into 
the  attitude  of  listening  he  had  assumed  upon  his 
trial.  "  An  old  man,  my  Lord ;  a  very  old,  old 
man !  " 

As  he  spoke  he  caught  sight  of  Oliver  and  Mr. 
Brownlow.  Shrinking  to  the  furthest  corner  of 
the  seat,  he  demanded  to  know  what  they  wanted 
there. 

"  You  have  some  papers,"  said  Mr.  Brownlow, 
advancing,  "which  were  placed  in  your  hands,  for 
better  security,  by  a  man  called  Monks." 

"  It's  all  a  lie  together,"  replied  the  Jew.  "  I 
haven't  one  —  not  one." 

"  For  the  love  of  God,"  said  Mr.  Brownlow,  "  do 
not  say  that  now,  upon  the  very  verge  of  death. 
Where  are  those,  papers?" 


Recitations  and  Declamations  205 

<;  Oliver,"  cried  the  Jew,  beckoning  to  him.  "Here, 
here!  Let  me  whisper  to  you." 

"  I  am  not  afraid,"  said  Oliver,  in  a  low  voice,  as 
he  relinquished  Mr.  Brovvnlow's  hand. 

"  The  papers,"  said  the  Jew,  drawing  him  toward 
him,  "are  in  a  canvas  bag,  in  a  hole  a  little  way  up 
the  chimney  in  the  top  front  room.  I  want  to  talk 
to  you,  my  dear;  I  want  to  talk  with  you." 

"  Yes,  yes,"  returned  Oliver.  "  Let  me  say  a 
prayer.  Do!  Let  me  say  one  prayer.  Say  only 
one,  upon  your  knees,  with  me,  and  we  will  talk 
till  morning." 

"Outside,  outside.  Say  I've  gone  to  sleep  — 
they'll  believe  you.  You  can  get  me  out  if  you  take 
me  so.  Now  then,  now  then  !  " 

"  Oh,  God  forgive  this  wretched  man !  "  cried  the 
boy,  with  a  burst  of  tears. 

"That's  right,  that's  right!  That'll  help  us  on! 
This  door  first !  If  I  shake  and  tremble,  as  we  pass 
the  gallows,  don't  you  mind,  but  hurry  on !  Now, 
now,  now !  " 

The  door  of  the  cell  opened  and  the  attendants 
returned. 

"  Press  on,  press  on !  Softly,  but  not  so  slow ! 
Faster,  faster!" 

The  men  laid  hands  upon  him  and,  disengaging 
Oliver  from  his  grasp,  held  him  back.  He  struggled 
with  the  power  of  desperation  for  an  instant ;  and 
then  sent  up  cry  upon  cry  that  penetrated  even  those 
massive  walls  and  rang  in  their  ears  until  they 
reached  the  open  yard. 


2O6  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

Day  was  dawning  when  they  again  emerged.  A 
great  multitude  had  already  assembled ;  the  windows 
were  filled  with  people,  smoking  and  playing  cards 
to  beguile  the  time ;  the  crowd  were  pushing,  quar- 
relling and  joking.  Everything  told  of  life  and 
animation  but  one  dark  cluster  of  objects  in  the  very 
centre  of  all  —  the  black  stage,  the  cross-beam,  the 
rope,  and  all  the  hideous  apparatus  of  death. 

CHIQUITA'S    LOVE  STORY 

Adapted  from  "  Captain  P'racasse."     By  Theophile  Gautier. 
Copyright,  1897,  by  L-  c-  Page  &  Co- 

A  compact  crowd  filled  the  Place  de  Greve. 
Clinging  to  the  transverse  piece  of  the  tall  stone 
cross  which  stood  at  that  side  of  the  open  square 
nearest  the  river,  was  a  forlorn  little  ragged  boy. 
From  this  precarious  position  he  had  a  full  view  of 
the  scaffold  and  all  its  horrible  details  —  the  wheel 
upon  which  the  criminal  was  to  revolve,  the  coil  of 
rope  to  bind  him  to  it  and  the  heavy  bar  to  break  his 
bones.  The  delicacy  of  the  features  seemed  to  indi- 
cate a  sex  different  from  that  indicated  by  the  dress  ; 
but  nobody  paid  any  attention  to  the  child,  since 
they  were  watching  the  scaffold  or  the  direction  from 
which  the  cart  was  to  come. 

The  criminal  who  was  to  be  executed  was  Agos- 
tino,  a  thief  notorious  in  Paris  for  his  daring  and 
dexterity.  In  his  last  enterprise  he  had  killed  the 
master  of  the  house  he  was  robbing,  and,  not  content 


Recitations  and  Declamations  207 

with  that,  had  brutally  murdered  his  sleeping  wife. 
Now  he  was  to  pay  the  penalty  of  his  crime. 

Presently  a  rickety  cart,  surrounded  by  mounted 
guards  and  bearing  the  condemned  man,  approached. 
Agostino,  holding  his  head  proudly  erect,  seemed 
to  be  searching  in  the  crowd  for  some  one.  When 
the  cart  passed  slowly  in  front  of  the  stone  cross 
he  caught  sight  of  the  boy  and  a  flash  of  joy  shone 
in  his  eyes.  A  slight  smile  parted  his  lips  ;  and  he 
made  an  almost  imperceptible  sign  with  his  head, 
and  said,  in  a  low  tone,  "  Chiquita !  " 

In  a  moment  more  the  cart  had  stopped  at  the 
foot  of  the  rude  steps  which  led  up  to  the  scaffold. 
In  less  than  a  minute  Agostino  had  been  thrown 
down  and  bound  firmly  upon  the  wheel,  and  the 
executioner,  having  thrown  off  his  showy  scarlet 
cloak  and  rolled  up  his  sleeves,  stooped  to  pick  up 
the  terrible  bar  which  lay  at  his  feet.  It  was  a 
moment  of  horror  and  excitement. 

Suddenly  a  strange  stir  ran  through  the  crowd 
—  the  child  had  slipped  quickly  down  from  the 
cross  and,  gliding  like  a  serpent  through  the  closely 
packed  throng,  reached  the  scaffold,  cleared  the  steps 
at  a  bound,  and  appeared  beside  the  astonished  execu- 
tioner, who  was  just  in  the  act  of  raising  his  pon- 
derous bar  to  strike.  The  child's  countenance  was 
wild  and  ghastly,  but  inspired  and  noble  and  lighted 
up  by  a  strength  of  will  and  purpose  that  made  it 
actually  sublime.  The  grim  dealer  of  death  paused 
involuntarily  and  withheld  the  murderous  blow  he 
was  about  to  deal. 


208  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

"  Get  out  of  my  way,  thou  puppet !  "  he  roared, 
"  or  thou  wilt  get  thy  accursed  head  smashed !  " 

But  Chiquita  paid  no  attention  to  him  ;  she  did 
not  care  whether  she,  too,  was  killed  or  not.  Bend- 
ing over  Agostino  she  kissed  his  forehead  passion- 
ately, whispered,  "  I  love  thee!  "  —and  then,  swift 
as  the  lightning's  flash,  plunged  her  knife  into  his 
heart.  The  blow  was  dealt  with  so  firm  a  hand  and 
such  unerring  aim  that  death  was  almost  instan- 
taneous —  scarcely  had  Agostino  time  to  murmur, 
"  Thanks." 

A  kiss  and  a  stab  —  that  was  Chiquita's  love 
story. 

LAST   STAND   OF  THE   WHITE   COMPANY 
Adapted  from  "  The  White  Company."     By  Conan  Doyle. 

Then  uprose  from  the  hill  in  the  rugged  Calabrian 
Valley  a  sound  such  as  had  not  been  heard  in  those 
parts  before ;  nor  was  again  until  the  streams  which 
rippled  between  the  rocks  had  been  frozen  by  over 
four  hundred  winters  and  thawed  by  as  many 
springs.  Deep  and  full  and  strong  it  thundered 
down  the  ravine,  the  fierce  battle-call  of  a  warrior 
race,  the  last  stern  welcome  to  whoso  should  join 
with  them  in  that  world-old  game  where  the  stake 
is  death.  Thrice  it  swelled  forth,  and  thrice  it  sunk 
away,  echoing  and  reverberating  among  the  crags. 
Then,  with  set  faces,  what  was  left  of  the  White 
Company  rose  up  among  the  storm  of  stones  and 


Recitations  and  Declamations  209 

• 

looked  down  upon  the  thousands  who  sped  swiftly 
up  the  slope  against  them.  Horse  and  spear  had 
been  set  aside,  but  on  foot,  with  sword  and  battle-ax, 
their  broad  shields  slung  in  front  of  them,  the  chivalry 
of  Spain  rushed  to  the  attack. 

Then  rose  a  struggle,  so  fell,  so  long,  so  evenly 
sustained  that  even  now  the  memory  of  it  is  handed 
down  among  the  Calabrian  mountaineers,  and  the  ill- 
omened  knoll  is  still  pointed  out  by  fathers  to  their 
children  as  the  "  Altura  de  los  Inglesos,"  where  the 
men  from  across  the  sea  fought  the  great  fight  with 
the  knights  of  the  south. 

The  last  arrow  was  quickly  shot;  nor  could  the 
slingers  hurl  their  stones,  so  close  were  friend  and 
foe.  From  side  to  side  stretched  the  thin  line  of  the 
English,  lightly  armed  and  quick  footed,  while  against 
it  stormed  and  raged  the  pressing  throng  of  fiery 
Spaniards  and  gallant  Bretons. 

The  clink  of  crossing  sword  blades,  the  dull  thud- 
ding of  heavy  blows,  the  panting  and  gasping  of 
weary  and  wounded  men,  all  rose  in  a  wild,  long- 
drawn  note,  which  swelled  up  to  the  ears  of  the  won- 
dering peasants  who  looked  down  from  the  edges  of 
the  cliffs  upon  the  swaying  of  the  turmoil  beneath 
them.  Back  and  forth  reeled  the  leopard  banner, 
now  borne  up  the  slope  by  the  rush  and  weight  of 
the  onslaught,  now  pushing  downward  again  as  Sir 
Nigel,  Burley,  and  Black  Simon,  with  their  veteran 
men-at-arms,  flung  themselves  madly  into  the  fray. 
To  the  right  Sir  Oliver,  Aylward,  Hordle  John  and 


2io  The  Principles  of  Oral  EnglisJi 

• 

the  bowmen  of  the  Company  fought  furiously  against 
the  monkish  Knights  of  Santiago,  who  were  led  up  the 
hill  by  their  prior,  a  great,  deep-chested  man,  who 
wore  a  brown  monastic  habit  over  his  coat  of  mail. 
Three  archers  he  .slew  in  three  giant  strokes,  but  Sir 
Oliver  flung  his  arms  round  him,  and  the  two,  stag- 
gering and  straining,  reeled  backward  and  fell,  locked 
in  each  other's  grasp,  over  the  edge  of  the  steep  cliff 
which  flanked  the  hill.  In  vain  his  knights  stormed 
and  raved  against  the  thin  line  which  barred  their 
path ;  the  sword  of  Aylward  and  the  great  ax  of 
John  gleamed  in  the  fore-front  of  the  battle,  and 
huge,  jagged  pieces  of  rock,  hurled  by  the  strong 
arms  of  the  bowmen,  crashed  and  hurtled  amid  their 
ranks. 

Slowly  the  Spaniards  gave  back  down  the  hill, 
the  archers  still  at  their  skirts,  a  long  litter  of 
writhing  and  twisted  figures  marking  the  course  they 
had  taken,  until  they  reached  the  plain  where  their 
fellows  were  already  rallying  for  a  fresh  assault. 

But  terrible  indeed  was  the  cost  at  which  the  attack 
had  been  repelled.  Of  the  three  hundred  and  seventy 
men  who  had  held  the  crest,  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-two were  left  standing,  many  of  whom  were 
sorely  wounded  and  weak  from  loss  of  blood,  while 
the  pitiless  hail  of  stones  was  already  whizzing  and 
piping  once  more  about  their  heads,  threatening  every 
instant  to  further  reduce  their  numbers.  Could  the 
handful  of  Englishmen  still  hold  the  hill  against  the 
enemy's  army  until  the  expected  help  arrived  ?  If 


Recitations  and  Declamations  2 1 1 

not  they  could  die,  as  their  countrymen  had  died 
before  them,  fighting  while  brain  and  muscle  could 
move  together. 

When  Sir  Hugh  Calverly  arrived  with  his  two  hun- 
dred men  on  a  distant  elevation,  he  saw  the  yellow 
and  white  banner  with  the  lions  and  towers  of  the 
house  of  Castile  floating  over  the  blood-stained  hill, 
while  up  the  slope  rushed  ranks  after  ranks,  exultant, 
shouting,  with  waving  pennons  and  brandished  arms. 

They  were  too  late  to  avenge,  as  they  had  been 
too  late  to  save.  Long  ere  they  could  gain  the 
level  ground  the  Spaniards,  seeing  them  ride  swiftly 
amid  the  rocks,  drew  off  from  the  captured  hill. 
Their  rear  ranks  were  already  passing  out  of  sight 
before  the  newcomers  were  urging  their  panting 
horses  up  the  slope  which  had  been  the  scene  of 
that  bloody  fight. 


THE  DEFEAT  OF  SIR  GALAHAD 

Adapted  from  "  Chandos."     By  Ouida. 

The  saddling  bell  rang  and  Sir  Galahad  passed,  his 
flanks  shining  like  satin,  his  knee  action  beautiful  and 
his  calm,  reposeful  glance  proudly  eyeing  the  throng 
that  hung  on  his  steps.  Chandos  looked  at  the 
favorite  as  a  man  must  almost  always  look  at  a 
nearly  certain  winner  of  a  great  stake  when  that  win- 
ner comes  out  of  his  own  establishment  and  has  been 
bred  from  the  famous  strains  that  have  made  the 


212  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

celebrity  and  the  success  of  the  stable  for  a  century. 
His  horse  was  a  brilliant  winner,  and  it  was  next  to 
an  impossibility  that  anything  could  beat  him  on  the 
Ascot  course,  unless,  indeed,  it  was  Lotus  Lily. 

The  start  was  given  ;  the  field  swept  out  like  a  fan, 
a  confused  mass,  for  a  moment,  of  bright  and  various 
hues.  Then  from  the  press  there  launched  forward, 
with  the  well-known,  light,  stretching  stride  that 
covered  distance  so  marvelously,  the  Clarencieux 
favorite,  shaking  himself  clear  of  all  the  running  and 
leading  at  a  canter,  which,  extended  and  easy  as  it 
was,  left  Lotus  Lily  and  Queen  of  the  Fairies  behind 
by  two  lengths. 

All  eyes  on  the  course  and  on  the  stands  were  fast- 
ened on  the  match  between  the  two  cracks.  Scarce 
any  one  noted  in  the  ruck  one  chestnut  outsider, 
ugly,  awkward,  but  with  great  depth  of  barrel  and 
power  of  action,  which,  ridden  by  a  Yorkshire  jock  of 
little-known  and  merely  local  reputation,  was  quietly 
singling  out  from  the  rest  and  warily  waiting  on  the 
two  favorites  —  so  warily  that  imperceptibly,  yet 
surely,  he  quickened  his  pace,  passed  Queen  of  the 
Fairies  and  gained  upon  Lotus  Lily  till  he  struggled 
with  her,  neck  and  neck.  Half  the  gathering  on  the 
stands  knew  neither  his  name  nor  his  owner,  and 
hundreds  looked  at  their  cards,  bewildered,  to  find 
out  who  the  outsider  belonged  to.  He  was  now 
barely  a  length  behind  the  famous  blue  and  gold  of 
Chandos's  popular  colors. 

Fleet  as  the  lightning  the  three  swept  on,  no  other 


Recitations  and  Declamations  213 

near  them.  Extended  now  to  the  utmost  of  his 
splendid  pace,  Sir  Galahad,  conscious  for  the  first 
time  of  a  rival  not  to  be  disdained,  and  perhaps 
scarcely  to  be  beaten,  ran  like  the  wind,  the  Diadem 
chestnut  gaining  on  him  at  every  yard,  the  mare  be- 
hind him  by  hopeless  lengths. 

The  Duke,  as  he  watched  the  race  that  had  now 
become  a  match,  with  the  eager  interest  of  the  chief 
of  a  great  house  whose  name  had  been  famous  on  the 
turf  since  the  days  of  Eclipse  and  Flying  Dutchman, 
muttered  :  "  The  dark  one  wins,  by  Jove  !  " 

Nearer  and  nearer,  faster  and  faster,  the  ungainly 
and  massive  limbs  of  the  Yorkshire  horse  brought 
him  alongside  the  graceful  and  perfect  shape  of  the 
Ascot  favorite.  And  from  the  vast  crowds  on  the 
purple  heather  of  the  Heath  the  shouts  echoed  of 
the  Duke's  words  :  "  The  outsider  wins  !  The  out- 
sider has  it !  " 

A  moment  and  they  ran  neck  and  neck ;  the  gal- 
lant crack  of  the  Clarencieux  stable,  with  all  the 
mettle  in  him  roused  to  fire,  strove  for  a  second  man- 
fully with  this  unknown  and  unexpected  foe;  then 
with  a  single  forward  spring,  like  magic,  the  outsider 
outstripped  him  by  a  head  and  ran  in  at  the  dis- 
tance, the  winner  of  the  Ascot  cup. 


214  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

SIDNEY   CARTON'S   PROMISE 

Adapted  from  "  A  Tale  of  Two  Cities."     By  Charles  Dickens. 

If  Sydney  Carton  ever  shone  anywhere,  it  cer- 
tainly was  not  in  the  house  of  Dr.  Manette.  He 
had  been  there  often,  and  had  always  been  the  same 
moody,  morose  lounger.  When  he  cared  to  talk,  he 
talked  well;  but  the  cloud  of  caring  for  nothing, 
which  overshadowed  him  with  such  a  fatal  darkness, 
was  rarely  pierced  by  the  light  within  him. 

And  yet  he  cared  for  the  streets  that  environed 
that  house,  and  the  very  stones  that  made  their  pave- 
ments. Many  a  night  he  vaguely  and  unhappily 
wandered  there ;  many  a  dreary  daybreak  revealed 
his  solitary  figure  lingering  there;  and  perhaps  the 
quiet  time  brought  some  sense  of  better  things,  else 
forgotten  and  unattainable,  into  his  mind. 

On  a  day  in  August,  his  feet,  from  being  irresolute 
and  purposeless,  became  animated  with  an  intention 
and,  in  working  out  that  intention,  took  him  to  the 
doctor's  door.  He  was  shown  upstairs  and  found 
Lucie  at  her  work,  alone.  He  seated  himself  near 
her  table. 

"  I  fear  you  are  not  well,  Mr.  Carton." 

"  No.  But  the  life  I  lead  is  not  conducive  to 
health.  What  is  to  be  expected  of,  or  by,  such  a 
profligate  ? " 

"Then  why  not  change  your  life  ?" 


Recitations  and  Declamations  215 

"  It  is  too  late  for  that,"  he  answered  with  tears 
in  his  voice. 

He  leaned  an  elbow  on  her  table  and  covered  his 
eyes  with  his  hands.  The  table  trembled  in  the 
silence  that  followed.  She  had  never  seen  him  soft- 
ened, and  was  much  distressed.  He  knew  her  to  be 
so,  without  looking  at  her,  and  said  :  — 

"  Pray  forgive  me,  Miss  Manette.  I  break  down 
before  the  knowledge  of  what  I  want  to  say  to  you. 
Will  you  hear  me  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Carton,  if  it  would  make  you  any  happier, 
it  would  make  me  very  glad." 

He  unshaded  his  face  after  a  while  and  spoke 
steadily. 

1  'Don't  be  afraid  to  hear  me;  don't  shrink  from 
anything  I  say.  I  am  like  one  who  died  young.  All 
my  life  might  have  been." 

She  was  pale  and  trembling.  He  came  to  her 
relief  with  a  fixed  despair  of  himself  which  made  the 
interview  unlike  any  other  that  could  have  been 
holden. 

"  If  it  had  been  possible,  Miss  Manette,  that  you 
could  have  returned  the  love  of  the  man  you  see 
before  you,  —  self-flung  away,  wasted,  drunken,  pooi 
creature  of  misuse  as  you  know  him  to  be  —  he 
would  have  been  conscious  this  day  and  this  hour, 
in  spite  of  his  happiness,  that  he  would  bring  you  to 
misery ;  bring  you  to  sorrow  and  repentance,  blight 
you,  disgrace  you,  pull  you  down  with  him.  I  know 
very  well  that  you  can  have  no  tenderness  for  me ; 


216  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

I  ask  for  none ;  I  am  even  thankful  that  it  cannot 
be." 

"  Without  it,  can  I  not  save  you  ?  Can  I  turn  this 
confidence  to  no  good  account  for  yourself,  Mr. 
Carton  ? " 

"To  none.  No,  Miss  Manette,  to  none.  But  I 
wish  you  to  know  that  you  have  been  the  last  dream 
of  my  soul.  In  my  degradation  I  have  not  been  so 
degraded  but  that  the  sight  of  you  with  your  father, 
and  of  this  home,  made  such  a  home  by  you,  has 
stirred  old  shadows  that  I  thought  had  died  out  of 
me.  Since  I  knew  you  I  have  been  troubled  by  a 
remorse  that  I  thought  would  never  reproach  me 
again,  and  have  heard  whispers  from  old  voices  im- 
pelling me  upward,  that  I  thought  were  silent  for- 
ever. I  have  had  unformed  ideas  of  striving  again 
and  fighting  out  the  abandoned  fight.  A  dream,  all 
a  dream ;  but  I  wish  you  to  know  that  you  inspired 
it." 

"Will  nothing  of  it  remain?  Oh,  Mr.  Carton, 
think  again  !  Try  again  !  " 

"  No,  Miss  Manette ;  all  through  it  I  have  known 
myself  to  be  quite  undeserving.  And  yet  I  have 
had  the  weakness,  and  still  have  the  weakness,  to 
wish  you  to  know  with  what  a  sudden  mastery  you 
kindled  me,  heap  of  ashes  that  I  am,  into  a  fire  —  a 
fire  quickening  nothing,  lighting  nothing,  doing  no 
service,  idly  burning  away." 

"  Can  I  use  no  influence  to  serve  you  ?  Have  I  no 
power  of  good  with  you  ?  " 


Recitations  and  Declamations  217 

"The  utmost  good  I  am  capable  of  now,  Miss 
Manette,  I  have  come  here  to  realize.  Let  me 
carry  through  the  rest  of  my  misdirected  life  the 
remembrance  that  I  opened  my  heart  to  you  the 
last  of  all  the  world.  Will  you  let  me  believe  that 
it  will  be  shared  by  no  one  ?  " 

"Mr.  Carton,"  she  said,  after  an  agitated  pause, 
"the  secret  is  yours,  and  I  promise  to  respect  it." 

"  Thank  you  ;  and  God  bless  you." 

He  put  her  hand  to  his  lips  and  moved  toward  the 
door. 

"  In  the  hour  of  my  death,"  he  said,  "  I  shall  hold 
sacred  the  one  good  remembrance — and  shall  thank 
and  bless  you  for  it  —  that  my  last  avowal  of  myself 
was  made  to  you,  and  that  my  name,  faults,  miseries, 
were  carried  gently  in  your  heart.  May  it  otherwise 
be  happy." 

He  was  so  unlike  what  he  had  ever  shown  himself 
to  be,  and  it  was  so  sad  to  think  how  much  he  had 
thrown  away,  and  how  much  he  every  day  kept  down 
and  perverted,  that  Lucie  Manette  wept  mournfully 
for  him  as  he  stood  looking  back  at  her. 

"  Be  comforted,"  he  said.  "  I  am  not  worth  such 
feeling.  But  within  myself  I  shall  always  be,  toward 
you,  what  I  am  now,  although  outwardly  I  shall  be 
what  you  have  heretofore  seen  me.  It  is  useless  to 
say  it,  I  know,  but  for  you  and  for  any  one  dear  to  you, 
I  would  do  anything.  If  my  career  were  of  that 
better  kind  that  there  was  any  opportunity  or  capac- 
ity for  sacrifice  in  it,  I  would  embrace  any  sacrifice 


218  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

for  you  and  for  those  dear  to  you.  Try  to  hold  me 
in  your  mind,  at  some  quiet  times,  as  ardent  and  sin- 
cere in  this  one  thing. 

"  The  time  will  come,  will  not  be  long  in  coming, 

*  when  new  ties  will  be  formed  about  you  —  ties  that 

will  bind  you  yet  more  tenderly  and  strongly  to  the 

1  home  you  so  adorn  —  the  dearest  ties  that  will  ever 

grace  and  gladden  you.     Oh,  Miss  Manette,  when  the 

, little  picture  of  a  happy  father's  face  looks  up  into 

'  yours,  when  you  see  your  own  bright  beauty  spring- 

'•  ing  up  anew  at  your  feet,  think  now  and  then  that  there 

is  a  man  who  would   give  his  life  to  keep  a  life  you 

,  love  beside  you  !  " 

He  said  " Farewell !  "  and  a  last  "God  bless  you!  " 
and  left  her. 


THE    LIGHTHOUSE   KEEPER'S    FIND 

Adapted  from  "The  Pillar  of  Light,"  by  Louis  Tracy. 
Copyright,  1904,  by  Edward  J.  Clode. 

All  night  long  the  great  bell  of  the  lighthouse, 
slung  to  a  stout  beam  projecting  seaward  beneath 
the  outer  platform,  had  tolled  its  warning  through 
the  fog.  The  monotonous  ticking  of  the  clock-work 
attachment  that  governed  it,  the  sharp  and  livelier 
click  of  the  occulting  hood's  machinery,  were  the 
only  sounds  which  alternated  with  its  deep  boom. 
The  tremendous  clang  sent  a  thrill  through  the  giant 
column  itself  and  pealed  away  into  the  murky  void 
with  a  tremolo  of  profound  diminutions. 


Recitations  and  Declamations  219 

Overhead  the  magnificent  lantern,  its  eight-ringed 
circle  of  flame  burning  at  full  pressure,  illumined  the 
drifting  vapor  with  an  intensity  that  seemed  to  be 
born  of  the  sturdy  granite  pillar  of  which  it  was  the 
fitting  diadem.  Hard  and  strong  externally  as  the 
everlasting  rock  on  which  it  stood  —  replete  within 
with  burnished  steel  and  polished  brass,  great  cylin- 
ders and  polished  lamps  —  the  lighthouse  thrust  its 
glowing  torch  beyond  the  reach  of  the  most  dangerous 
wave.  Cold,  dour,  defiant  it  looked.  Yet  its  super- 
human eye  sought  to  pierce  the  very  heart  of  the  fog, 
and  the  furnace-white  glare,  concentrated  ten  thou- 
sand fold  by  the  encircling  hive  of  the  dioptric  lens, 
flung  far  into  the  gloom  a  silvery  cloak  of  moonlike 
majesty. 

At  last  a  gentle  breeze  swept  the  shivering  wraith 
landward,' while  the  first  beams  of  a  June  sun  com- 
pleted the  destruction  of  the  routed  specter.  So, 
once  more,  as  on  the  dawn  of  the  third  day,  the 
waters  under  the  heavens  were  gathered  into  one 
place  and  the  dry  land  appeared, — and  behold,  it  was 
good. 

A  man,  pacing  the  narrow  gallery  beneath  the  lan- 
tern, halted  for  a  moment  to  flood  his  soul  afresh 
with  the  beauty  of  the  day.  Captive  to  the  spell  of 
the  hour,  he  murmured  aloud  :  — 

Floating  on  waves  of  music  and  of  light, 
Behold  the  chariot  of  the  fairy  queen  ! 
Celestial  coursers  paw  the  unyielding  air: 
Their  filmy  pennons  at  her  word  they  furl, 
And  stop  obedient  to  the  reins  of  light. 


22O  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

The  watcher  was  about  to  enter  the  lantern  when 
his  acute  gaze  rested  upon  some  object  distant  a  mile 
or  less  and  drifting  slowly  nearer.  It  was  a  white- 
painted  ship's  life-boat,  with  broken  mast  and  sail 
trailing  over  the  stern,  adrift,  forlorn,  deserted.  Its 
unexpected  presence,  wafted  from  ocean  wilds,  be- 
tokened an  accident ;  perchance  a  tragedy.  Perhaps 
he  would  not  have  noticed  it  except  for  the  flashing 
wings  of  several  sea  birds  which  accompanied  the 
craft  in  an  aerial  escort. 

"Jim  !  "  he  cried. 

His  mate  came  at  the  call. 

"  What  do  you  make  out  of  that  ?" 

"Ship's  boat,"  Jim  answered  laconically.  "Col- 
lision, I  expect."  He  leveled  a  glass  and  began  to 
speak  again,  jerkily.  "  Stove  in  forrard.  Somethin' 
layin'  in  th'  bows.  Couple  o'  cormorants  on  th'  gun- 
nel. She'll  pass  within  two  hundred  yards  on  this 
tide,  but  we've  no  boat  to  reach  her." 

"Then  I'll  swim  to  her,  Jim." 

"That's  the  foolishest  thing  I've  heard  for  a  long 
time.  There's  somethin'  dead  aboard  o'  her;  she's 
convoyed  by  sharks." 

While  his  mate  went  to  speak  to  Jones,  the  head 
keeper,  Jim  centered  the  boat  in  the  telescopic  field. 
In  the  bow  he  could  see  a  shapeless  mass  which  puz- 
zled him.  The  birds  were  busy  and  excited,  and  that 
he  did  not  like.  Presently  he  was  joined  by  the  head 
keeper.  Both  leaned  over  the  railing  and  saw  their 
associate,  stripped  to  his  underclothing,  with  a  belt 


Recitations  and  Declamations  221 

supporting  a  sheath-knife  slung  across  his  shoulders, 
climbing  down  the  ladder  to  the  sea.  A  light  splash 
came  to  them,  and  a  few  seconds  later  Brand's  head 
and  shoulders  swung  into  view  in  the  water.  With  a 
sweeping  side-stroke  the  swimmer  made  rapid  prog- 
ress. As  he  neared  the  boat,  when  it  was  about  a 
boat's  length  away  from  him,  he  dived  suddenly  and 
the  cormorants  sailed  aloft.  A  black  fin  darted  into 
sight,  leaving  a  sharply  divided  trail  in  the  water. 

The  men  peered  at  the  sudden  tragedy  with  an 
intensity  which  left  them  gasping  for  breath.  The 
rapidly  moving  black  signal  reached  the  small  eddy 
caused  by  the  man's  disappearance.  Instantly  a 
great,  sinuous,  shining,  body  rose  half  out  of  the 
water,  and  a  powerful  tail  struck  the  side  of  the  boat 
a  resounding  whack.  For  an  instant  they  saw  the 
dark  hair  and  the  face  of  the  man  above  the  surface. 
The  shark  whirled  about  and  rushed.  Brand  sank, 
and  again  the  giant  man-eater  writhed  in  agonized 
contortions.  Then  their  mate's  head  reappeared, 
while  the  ugly  monster  writhed  in  frantic  convul- 
sions. The  second  stab  of  the  knife  had  reached  a 
vital  part.  The  shark,  churning  the  sea  into  a  white 
foam,  whirled  away  in  frantic  pursuit  of  the  death 
that  was  rending  him.  The  man,  unharmed,  clam- 
bered into  tbe  boat. 

While  stepping  over  the  rail  he  stopped  as  though 
something  had  stung  him.  Then  he  passed  rapidly 
forward,  caught  a  limp  body  by  the  belt  which  every 
sailor  wears,  and,  with  a  mighty  effort,  slung  it  into 


222  The  Principles  of  Oral  English 

the  sea,  where  it  sank  instantly.     Then  he  returned 
to  the  sail  which  had  fallen  across  the  stem  of  the 
boat,  and  peered  beneath.     Whatever  he  saw,  Brand 
apparently  resolved  to  leave  it  alone  for  a  moment,  j 
He  shipped  the  oars,  and  drove  the  boat  rapidly  tO| 
the  lighthouse. 

His  swift  hail  made  his  mates  lower  a  basket  on 
the  swinging  crane,  and  into  it  Brand,  without  a  word, 
deposited  his  find  —  a  baby  ;  thin,  emaciated  and  half  ! 
dead,  but  saved  from  the  sea,  lone  survivor  of  some  I 
tragedy  which  its  feeble  brain  could  not  comprehend, 
the  history  of  which  its  wordless  tongue  could  never 
tell. 


Argumentation  and  Debate 

BY  CRAVEN    LAYCOCK 

Assistant  Professor  of  Oratory  in  Dartmouth  College 

AND 

ROBERT   LEIGHTON   SCALES 

Instructor  in  English  in  Dartmouth  College 
Cloth  12mo  xviii  +  361  pages  $1.10  net 

In  this  work  the  peculiar  difficulties  which  stand  in  the  way  of  making 
a  practical  text-book  for  use  in  teaching  argumentation  and  debate  have 
been  overcome.  The  authors  have  succeeded  in  producing  a  book  which 
is  not  only  practical  and  teachable,  but  which  has  the  still  rarer  quality  of 
being  easily  understood.  The  treatment  of  the  topics  presented  —  the 
proposition,  the  issues,  preliminary  reading,  evidence,  kinds  of  arguments, 
fallacies,  brief-drawing,  the  principles  of  presentation,  refutation,  and  de- 
bate—  is  lucid  and  interesting  as  well  as  highly  profitable. 

The  discussion  of  the  Issues  is  built  around  the  vital  statement  that  "in 
arguing,  there  are  always  certain  ideas  or  matters  of  fact,  upon  the  estab- 
lishment of  which  depends  the  establishment  of  the  proposition."  It  is 
shown  that  there  is  no  sure  way  of  guarding  against  irrevelant  discussion, 
except  by  clear  understanding  and  concise  statement  of  the  issues.  The 
method  of  finding  the  issues  is  fully  explained  and  is  also  illustrated  by 
quotations  from  the  speeches  of  great  debaters. 


Manual  of  Argumentation 

BY    CRAVEN    LAYCOCK    of  Dartmouth   College,   and 

A.     KEITH    SPOFFORD    of  Hartford  (Vt.)  High  School 

The  best  and  simplest  presentation  of  the  elements  of  debate  for 
younger  students  —  members  of  boys'  clubs,  or  classes  in  high  schools  and 
academies.  The  reading  of  it  can  add  tremendously  to  the  force  of  almost 
any  public  speaking,  especially  of  brief  extempore  political  addresses. 

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HOW    TO    WRITE 

A  Handbook  Based  on  the 
English  Bible 

BY  CHARLES  SEARS  BALDWIN,  A.M.,  PH.D. 

Assistant  Professor  of  Rhetoric  in  Yale  University 

"  It  is  a  commonplace  of  literature  that  many  of  our  greatest  writers 
have  found  their  style  in  the  English  Bible,  but  such  a  direct  use  of  it 
for  teaching  composition  as  is  done  in  this  little  book  is  novel  and  ingen- 
ious. As  examples  of  '  How  to  Prepare  a  Speech  '  the  speeches  of  Paul 
at  Mars'  Hill,  to  the  Jews  of  Antioch,  and  at  the  trial  before  Felix,  are 
given  and  analyzed.  For  essays  we  have  selections  from  the  Wisdom  of 
Solomon  and  from  Paul  and  Isaiah,  while  'How  to  Tell  a  Story'  and 
'  How  to  Describe '  are  illustrated  from  the  Old  Testament.  The  book 
will  be  very  useful  as  a  practical  rhetoric  and  is  likely  to  do  more  to  re- 
store the  Bible  to  its  rightful  place  in  modern  education  than  any  number 
of  magazine  articles  and  chapel  addresses  on  the  literary  value  of  the 
Bible."  —  Independent. 

"  Here  is  one  of  the  very  best  handbooks  of  English  composition  that 
we  have  ever  seen.  Its  plan  is  decidedly  original.  .  .  .  Among  the  speeches 
which  are  analyzed  is  that  of  Paul  to  the  Athenians,  his  address  to  the 
Jews  in  the  synagogue  at  Antioch  in  Pisidia,  and  his  speech  before  Felix. 
Among  the  essays  is  that  on  Idolatry  which  we  find  in  the  Wisdom  of 
Solomon,  and  another,  very  different  in  style,  is  St.  Paul's  brief  discourse 
on  Charity.  .  .  .  There  is  a  stimulating  freshness  and  vitality  in  Dr.  Bald- 
win's treatment  of  his  subject  which  is  never  found  in  more  technical 
essays."  —  Church  Standard. 

"...  It  would  be  unfair  to  the  author  to  draw  up  an  analysis  of  his 
well-considered  and  well-executed  work,  and  we  therefore  merely  say  that 
it  deserves  to  be  read  attentively  and  thoroughly  digested  by  all  who 
desire  to  attain  skill  in  composition,  and  that  its  210  pages  contain  a  great 
deal  which  can  be  obtained  elsewhere  only  by  the  study  of  many  books." 
—  Montreal  Star. 

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